Sant calls for 'restructuring with a safety net'

Labour leader Alfred Sant believes there should be a nationwide debate about how restructuring should take place, so it will not always be the workers who carry the burden.

Asked whether he agreed with the General Workers' Union's secretary general Tony Zarb's campaign to secure alternative employment for workers in government enterprises that went bust, Dr Sant said: "I understand that unions should do everything to defend workers' rights but restructuring has to take place.

"But I also believe there needs to be a national debate on how restructuring is carried out.

"You have these anomalies with regulations that help some but work against others, or some companies increasing their profits because workers are pressed to work more and earn less, and have to work in stiffer conditions. Burdens always seem to be shouldered by workers.

"We need a safety net so that those losing jobs would have a future. The system should work for both those in the public as well as in the private sector. It should apply to workers of all ages and irrespective of whether they are male or female," Dr Sant said.

"I think that restructuring in our country has to be underpinned with this logic. We need to restructure but restructuring should have this social underpinning at the same time," Dr Sant said.