General Workers' Union general secretary Tony Zarb yesterday said the government's proposal to abolish clause 17 of the Employment and Industrial Relations Act would bring about uncertainty and would lead to a conflict between unions and employers.

The government has said it will remove the clause which stipulates that public holidays falling on Saturdays and Sundays are added to the vacation leave entitlement. This will be done to implement a budget measure intended to increase the country's productivity.

Addressing a pensioners' meeting at the Workers' Memorial Building in Valletta yesterday, Mr Zarb said the government expected the unions to find a solution once it would have undermined collective agreements.

"The measure will bring about discrimination between workers," Mr Zarb said, adding that the GWU would not accept a situation where workers' rights are denigrated. He added that the government was prepared to "mess around" with the law in order to accommodate employers, but the union would never accept that. "The Prime Minister promised workers better conditions, not worse," he said.

In a two-hour meeting on Thursday Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and the GWU failed to come to an agreement over the issue.

The union will convene its national council on Wednesday to decide on a course of action but has asked Dr Gonzi to meet again in a bid to break the deadlock, possibly before Wednesday.

Mr Zarb told pensioners the union was the first to speak up for workers when the government and the employers proposed putting more burdens on workers.

"The union will continue to shield workers," he said.

Mr Zarb expressed his satisfaction that most other unions were supporting the GWU's cause. On this issue, he said, the trade union movement could fight on a common front.