GWU demands bigger compensation

The General Workers' Union has asked the government to grant a bigger compensation to make up for the water and electricity surcharge and the increase in the cost of fuel.

The compensation, general secretary Tony Zarb said yesterday, had to respect social justice, with the most vulnerable receiving the most help.

He said the 50c weekly increase awarded in the budget was inadequate.

The union, Mr Zarb said, was also asking the government to find alternative sources of energy.

It has asked the government for a meeting to be held as soon as possible to discuss both the compensation and alternative sources of energy issues. Unless the meeting was held the union would take the measures it deemed fit, "and nothing is being excluded," Mr Zarb said.

Asked what kind of compensation the union was expecting, he said he would announce this during his meeting with the government. The union's proposals on alternative sources of energy would also be submitted to the government.

Asked what the government should have done when faced with the rising cost of oil, Mr Zarb said that had the government not squandered the people's money it would have been able to absorb the increase itself.

Union consultant Robert Borg has compiled a report on the effects of the increases in fuel and electricity on households.

In the report he points out that a three-person household with a weekly average wage of Lm60 who used to spend Lm40 every two months on water and electricity before the budget would now see the bill go up to Lm55.20. This meant an annual increase of Lm91.20. If the same family used three gallons of fuel a week, it would see its fuel bill increase by Lm23.40 a year.

In all, the increases meant a total additional expense for this family of Lm2.20 a week, the study indicated.

A similar exercise on a household of the same size with an average salary of Lm90, spending Lm50 every two months on water and electricity and using four gallons of fuel a week, brought the total increase in costs to Lm2.79 a week.

A three-person household with an average salary of Lm100, spending Lm60 every two months on water and electricity and using five gallons of fuel a week, would have to dish out Lm3.38 more every week.

The exercise on a one-person household with an average salary of Lm75 who used to spend Lm40 every two months on water and electricity and used four gallons of fuel a week showed an additional expenditure of Lm2.33 per week.

Mr Borg said the study did not take into account the planned additional monthly increase in the water and electricity surcharge, over and above the 55 per cent imposed in the budget.

Mr Zarb expressed regret that the government had failed to take on the GWU's proposals for the budget. These included the setting up of a mechanism within the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development to monitor and scrutinise government expenditure and a revision of the machinery which calculated the cost of living.

Other proposals were for a revision of tax bands, immediate remedies for new direct or indirect taxes that could be introduced during the year, a benchmarking system for tax collection and incentives to industry for the creation of employment.

The GWU also proposed that fiscal incentives should be given to encourage women to start working and that part-time workers who paid national insurance should start receiving benefits.