Government prepared to cut public holidays - PM

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday told the General Workers Union in no uncertain terms that the government is prepared to reduce the number of public holidays if the union continues to obstruct its initiatives to make Malta more competitive.

Responding to a letter by GWU general secretary Tony Zarb, the Prime Minister said that the government had taken the most beneficial route for workers last year when it decided that public holidays falling on a weekend should not be added to the leave entitlement.

Dr Gonzi said: "The GWU continued to oppose this measure and, in the strangest way possible, is pushing the government to take the other route - which can only mean a reduction in the number of public holidays.

"The GWU should be left in no doubt that... the government will not hold back from taking this step."

The government announced last week that it would be amending the National Holidays Act in the wake of a report by the International Labour Organisation - carried out after it received a complaint from the GWU last September - stating that a law on public holidays does not automatically nullify existing collective agreements.

However, the government is insisting that, contrary to statements made by the General Workers Union, the ILO was not contesting the amendment made to the National Holidays Act last year - which stated that public holidays falling on a weekend would no longer be added to the leave entitlement - but the provision introduced in 1975 which states that legislation takes precedence over collective agreements.

This change effectively means that employers and their employees will, from now on, be able to agree on whether a public holiday which falls on a weekend should be added to the leave entitlement.

However, Dr Gonzi said in the letter that the ILO made it clear that it is the government's prerogative to decide, as a matter of public policy, which days can be public holidays and how many there can be.

"While the GWU continues to force the government to take a decision that will have a bigger financial impact on the workforce, the government reiterates that at this stage the ILO decision should not lead to this."

Dr Gonzi said the government was prepared to address the points raised by the ILO, but in a manner which continued to improve the productivity and competitiveness of Malta's economy.

"The unions and employers are surely aware that strengthening the productivity and competitiveness of our economy benefits, first and foremost, the whole workforce."

Therefore, he said, the government would continue to insist on last year's amendment to the National Holidays Act.

"In the spirit of social dialogue, the government would prefer to have agreement on this issue. But if the GWU continues to insist on its position, that would mean that it would prefer the government to reduce the number of public holidays, a measure which, till now, it has tried to avoid."

The Malta Employers Association last week called on the government to improve national competitiveness by reducing the annual number of public holidays by four days.