Shortage of labour for tomato plants

josh farrugia

Aug 2nd 2008, 19:34

private enterprises most of them give minimum 40 hour week wages and you have to work 50 hours or more for it plus no annual and no government bonus given to the workers, if you complain to the awtorities you end up without a job and you will not be able to find another job in our lovely tranquill heavenly call it what you like Gozo so no wonder they can`t find workers

John Schembri

Aug 2nd 2008, 19:11

.Can these Gozitan producers tell us how much they are paying for 8 hours work? It does not take much imagination what type of cheap labour they want to employ . Some things (people) never change.

john Azzopardi

Aug 2nd 2008, 18:12

How naive can you be MR Galea. When I talk about jobs for Gozo, I don't mean the minimum wage jobs. Oh, I understand, you want all the high paying jobs to remain in Malta proper. Enough said.

L Galea

Aug 2nd 2008, 16:53

@Jason Azzopardi et. al

There is something contradictory here and I find several inconsistencies.

If according to statistics there is so much unemployment and most people are on part-time employment and workers are not being paid for months on end, then how on earth did Magro Bros not find any workers unless as I've said they offer miserable wages and working conditions?

As for water & electricity surcharge, do not producers in Malta also face the same charges?

And if Magro Bros etc are not finding workers, how can workers be found to work on and in new projects?

And what does brain-drain got to do with factory workers?

You do not need a PhD to work in a factory unless you are an engineer or a specialist.

What about those unemployed?

Why do statistics indicate that Gozo has the highest number of unemployed persons relative to its population and yet Magro Bros do not find the workers they want?

Do people work and register at the same time? Or do they send their guardian angel to register for them?

Something fishy is going on and the authorities should investigate it.

Jason Azzopardi

Aug 2nd 2008, 15:45

What Eric Psaila said is totally true. There are enterprises who are not paying their employees and (these are major local enterprises. The slowdown in the Gozitan building industry is having a big impact in this regard as well Right now, there are no buyers and lending is being tightened. A lot of gozitan youths are also emigrating and returned emigrants chidlren are now emigrating due to the lack of opportunities in Gozo. Gozo is suffering as well because all proposed major projects are being objected to. I ask, where is the Gozo Ministry and where are the ministers responsible for industry. Why aren't any business encouraged/directed to Gozo with some incentive packages as the HSBC service center was. As for the tomato producers, if they pay a decent salary, I am sure they will find gozitans who will be willing to work. Let's hope that our gozitan brothers are given the right opportunities and not bypassed by individuals who are paid less than half of the established minimum.

Joe Tabone-Adami

Aug 2nd 2008, 15:32

What baffles me in this news item is the fact that "failed efforts to find employees" at tomato-processing plants are a result of "Gozo. experiencing a brain drain". What, in the name of tomatoes and onions, has brain-drain got to do with lack of factory hands? I suspect that the comments about poor or untimely wages has got much more to do with it. But, as we all know, Gozo is another world, isn't it!!

John Azzopardi

Aug 2nd 2008, 14:35

The suggestion to call for a study why there is a shortage of manual workers is absolutely incredible. Does anyone blame Gozitan youngsters crossing over to Malta to study or improve their careers? What do we ant here? A repeat of the 60's and 70's when people were encouraged to work in the factories rather than continue studying because they made good money? That myopic view by the authorities resulted in two generations of almost illiterate citizens, but it brought in the votes. Let's get real...this is no longer the 60's and 70's. We have moved on

L Galea

Aug 2nd 2008, 13:28

@emanuel bajada

re the bridge I have lost count of how many times I have stated this here, but it appears that teh authorities are either acting like the three monkeys or are burying their heads in the sand.

emanuel bajada

Aug 2nd 2008, 11:10

@ Eric Psaila
Vague insinuations about Gozitan employers. Yours is no enigma, but wrong percption. The reality is in Gozo there is no fulltime but only part time jobs as is reffered to in this case. What both director are saying is that all our youngsters have now realised this and left the island for Malta to start for themselves a decent career. They only come to Gozo for a break like their compatriots from the main land. Hence the shortage for seasonal employment. A note on what Pisani highlighted - the surcharge of water. Production of water on Gozo cost one third of the cost of production of water on the mainland ( Lm0.20 compare with Lm0.65) yet we still pay LM1.10 +95% surcharge as the mainland. Hence Gozitans with all disadvantages are subsiding utility users in Malta.
@ L.Galea
What they are not saying or afraid to highlight is their difficulties they face to have their enterprise cope with all the difficulty of our insularity.
@ all
The Final Solution for Gozo - build a bridge between the islands- thus ending the need for having a separate policy and plans for Gozo.

Eric Psaila

Aug 2nd 2008, 09:42

This article for me is an enigma. I am informed that some Gozitan employers do not even pay their employees on a monthly basis.
I know of a person who has not received his salary for months.
This is a good lead for the social services to investigate upon. Could it be that there are more people who are experiencing this kind of slavery in Gozo. We know that Gozitans by their very nature will not spill the beans and will never speak out openly of these things. One would argue " then let them suffer ". Perhaps that is the case but after reading this article I felt it was my duty as a Maltese citizen to bring this to the attention of the authorities. Maybe this worker would have an opportunity to work for these companies if he is really not being paid.

L Galea

Aug 2nd 2008, 09:13

It is rather obvious why they are not finding enough worekrs when Gozo has the most unemployed persons in Malta.

They are saying what other employers say but they never give the reasons:

Low pay, bad working conditions, long working times, trying to squeeze the last drop of blood from the workers, etc. etc. etc.

They have to realize that the workers are not slaves.