FOI denies reneging on budget proposal

The Federation of Industry has taken exception to remarks made to the media by Joseph Farrugia, the director general of the Malta Employers' Association, about the ongoing debate on the reduction of public holidays.

The FOI said it had taken the initiative to write to the General Workers' Union saying it should not expect any replies from individual employers to a letter by the union asking them whether they intended to infringe collective agreements provisions.

The FOI said it invited the GWU to discuss the matter with it and was pleased that the union took up the offer immediately. At the conclusion of that meeting it was decided to issue a joint statement containing the reactions of both organisations.

The FOI's message was a clear one and "it was amazing to find the MEA director general misinterpreting it completely", the FOI said.

"To say that the FOI had reneged on its budget proposal is ludicrous. The FOI did not renege from its stand in the least. In the joint release with the GWU, the FOI simply insisted that the government and other social partners should respect the principle that collective agreements have the force of law," the FOI said.

In the same media release the FOI had also appealed to the government to take steps without delay to clarify the way the measure was to be implemented.

"It explicitly requested this clarification to ensure that employers got the full benefit of the budget measure without the need for infringing existing collective agreements," it said.

The FOI said it would like to assure its members in particular, as well as the MEA, that it was the first employers' organisation to propose this and other measures in an effort to increase productivity and to stop the government from further increasing all forms of taxation on workers and enterprises.

"The FOI is aware that it is demanding an effort from the government and sacrifices from the workers. The alternative would be that Malta stands to lose further investment opportunities and therefore jobs," the FOI said.