GWU chief insists on 'social burdens' deal

The secretary general of the General Workers' Union, Tony Zarb, insisted yesterday the union wants to reach an agreement with the government regarding the "social burdens" resulting from the water and electricity surcharge.

Concluding a seminar for GWU officials, Mr Zarb said the union has written to the Prime Minister reminding him of its four-point proposal which can serve a basis for the desired agreement.

Stressing that the GWU wants a constructive dialogue with the government, Mr Zarb insisted that if an agreement was reached regarding the water and electricity surcharge, there won't be the need for the GWU to continue with its campaign of protests.

He said the proposal it presented to the Prime Minister is very similar to the one it had submitted to the Labour government in 1997, when the then government raised the water and electricity tariffs. On that occasion, Mr Zarb said, Prime Minister Alfred Sant had declared in Parliament that an impact study would be carried out and if it was found that the new tariffs would have had a negative impact, the government would remedy the situation accordingly.

Mr Zarb said the GWU will continue to voice its concerns and criticise where it feels that things are not being done in a correct way. He also said the GWU would praise and give credit to all those who deserve such credit.

Mr Zarb remarked that the government did a good job when it saved the country about Lm750,000 as a result of curbing abuse in the social services sector.

"This is what the government has to do, to increase its efforts to eliminate abuse.

We cannot accept a situation any more where workers pay all their dues in taxes when the government still has to collect more than Lm400 million in tax arrears," he said.