A chorus of disapproval

It is almost two weeks now since Labour reacted to the pensions reform and its leader published a four-page document on the matter.

Labour's position is to shelve reform and freeze all discussion until after the next general election. The party sees no crisis, not until the years 2025 and 2030 at least. Labour's proposal has been met with a barrage of criticism from all sectors of civil society and trade unions, not least from several leading youth organisations, all unanimous in their disagreement.

The general secretary of the General Workers' Union, Tony Zarb agreed on the need for all parties to tackle the matter now as did his counterpart, Gejtu Vella, of the Union Haddiema Maghqudin.

Vince Farrugia, on behalf of the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU, in an interview with this newspaper, disagreed that pension reform should be postponed, arguing that Labour's proposals would create uncertainty that would be detrimental to the workers themselves.

Wilfred Kenely, of the Federation of Industry, said reform is necessary and that he sees no reason why it should be postponed.

Leading economist Edward Scicluna told The Business Today that, I quote, "the government has spent 10 years preparing for this reform. The international credibility of the government and the economy is at stake; it is unthinkable that this would be postponed further".

Various youth organisations have also expressed their disagreement with Labour. On the forefront was the National Youth Council, which represents all youth organisations and the University Students' Council. They both argued that reform should not be postponed because youth organisations have been actively contributing to the consultation process for the past decade. Both insisted that reform should take place now as procrastinating would create unnecessary burdens for young people who are the pensioners of tomorrow.

Even the youth sections of both the GWU and the UHM have joined in this chorus of disapproval, as did the Christian Democrat Students and the Nationalist Party youth section.

Labour has only found support from its youth section, which toed the party line, even if that meant going against the interest of their generation.

Pulse, the Socialist student group on campus remained mum.

The writing is on the wall; who can deny that very soon a demographic situation shall arise where we will have too many retired people and too few young workers to sustain them? Each and every country is addressing this problem today; many others have already done so. We cannot procrastinate on such an important issue.

Why Labour has chosen this irresponsible path is beyond me. Perhaps Labour wants a blank cheque to decide on the matter as it deems fit should it make it to office after the next election.

The chorus of disapproval to Labour's position on pensions reform cannot be taken lightly. All major trade unions have shown outright disapproval. If Labour is ready to ignore their pleas, then it should at least listen to the young people who spoke and condemned it through their organisations.

Pensions reform affects mainly today's youths and, so, if they feel that reform should take place now, then no party, no politician can deny them this right. After all who better then them know what's best for their future?

Placing the subject in deep freeze reminds us of the time Labour froze the country's application to join the EU and delayed the whole process by a decade.

The young people of Malta cannot afford to have their future postponed. Labour should change its position now; the young people demand it. Ignoring them would be tantamount to saying I don't care. I hope that's not the case.