Joseph Muscat, one of the candidates running for the Labour Party's top post, has urged trade unions to start discussions on the setting up of a trades union council in the best interests of workers and the country.

During separate meetings with the General Workers' Union and the Union Haddiema Maghqudin, Dr Muscat expressed his wish that trade unions in Malta would unite in order that workers' representatives could have a common voice on various issues which directly affect them.

Dr Muscat said the time was right for discussions on the matter to start again so that workers could be united on important national issues.

On the matter, GWU general secretary Tony Zarb said his union had tried to set up this council and had even invited foreign guests such as John Monks, the General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in the UK between 1993 and 2003. He said the GWU was not blame that the TUC was not established.

On his part, UHM general secretary Gejtu Vella said the Confederation of Maltese Trade Unions (CMTU) already served as a TUC but the problem was that not all trade unions are affiliated with it. He also spoke about the attempt to agree on a social pact, saying the lack of one was "negative" for the country.

"It's like we have many good musicians but we cannot sit together to play one tune like a fully-fledged orchestra," he said.

During his meeting with the unions, Mr Muscat expressed his frustration that certain multinational companies that were investing in Malta were not treating their workers as they should be.

He also promised that if elected Labour leader, he would put pressure on the government to put an end to exploitation of workers.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.