Firm planning 20 lay-offs - GWU

A company is planning to sack more than 20 workers in the coming days, General Workers' Union general secretary Tony Zarb confirmed yesterday.

Without disclosing any details, Mr Zarb said the original plan was to lay off more than 100 employees but after the union intervened, this number was brought down to "more than 20".

Putting it in context, Mr Zarb said through the water and electricity tariffs, the government was adding insult to injury for local industry, which was already shouldering the burden of the global financial turmoil.

Over the past few weeks, Toly Products has laid off 84 workers while another three companies, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions, Methode Electronics and Hectronic have reduced their working week by one day. The unions were not going to stand by and watch helplessly. Instead, they will by making history by joining forces and leading a protest in Valletta tomorrow against the new tariffs, which Mr Zarb said were the result of the government's "arrogance".

Moreover, the unions will be voicing their anger over the way they were treated at the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development.

On the protest itself, Mr Zarb said the union had received "very positive" feedback from workers and their families who were fed up of shouldering more burdens. He said if the government did not change its course, workers will not tolerate more arrogance.

Mr Zarb said the union, workers, their families and pensioners will be sending out a clear message to the government that they could not shoulder more burdens.

"We are sending the government a clear message that trade unions are willing to come together to fight for workers' rights," he said, after closing a conference on the budget.

The conference was addressed by economist Edward Scicluna, who put the budget in the context of the global financial crisis and insisted that the local economy could not suffer shocks, which water and electricity rates would bring about.

Prof. Scicluna said the government should introduce an accruals accounting system in the public service, which would enable the state to have a clear picture of all its revenue and expenditure. Malta was the only EU country that did not have this system.

While many countries succeed in cutting their deficit by trimming extra costs, Malta had not yet managed to do this. Increasing taxes to solve the problem was not sustainable "because after that you go back to square one".

On the unsettling global crisis, Prof. Scicluna said it was more alarming than most thought it was. He said Malta could not create a fiscal package on its own and could only do so with other EU countries.