Social partners want compensation

The social partners yesterday called for corrective measures to mitigate the impact of the increases on water and electricity bills in the forthcoming budget.

Sonny Portelli, chairman of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD), last night issued a statement on behalf of all the social partners immediately after an urgent meeting called by the unions.

The stand follows the announcement of new water and electricity tariffs on Tuesday, which the social partners believe will excessively burden both business and people and lead to unemployment. These come into effect retroactively from October 1.

Mr Portelli said social partners were disappointed that the government had not accepted their recommendations and asked for mitigating measures that would meet the country's social and economic needs while safeguarding people's interests.

The wording of the statement was chosen carefully, particularly the part about the mitigating measures, as employers are strongly opposed to significant cost of living increases, fearing the cost to them.

There is consensus, however, that the government should postpone its target to balance the budget by 2010 and finance mitigating measures through the deficit.

MCESD members last Friday had called on the government to postpone the decision to April and suggested monthly meetings to discuss the topic as well as the global economic scenario.

Mr Portelli reiterated that the social partners are irked that the government was not attaching any value to the MCESD discussions. They said the body is an effective tool to find the best economic and social solutions for the country.

"We feel the way the government has treated social partners who sit on the MCESD when discussing the new utility tariffs is not the way one would expect of consultations at MCESD level. Although the government revised its original proposals, this was not enough," they said.

The social partners also complained that it was "disparaging and unacceptable" that consultation on such a sensitive subject was reduced to just two presentations.

Worse still, the government made its announcement through a press conference when it was still expecting their feedback. Moreover, the social partners said, they did not expect the government to announce its decision without at least informing them about its final decision before going to the media.