No agreement yet on tariffs - Tony Zarb

General Workers' Union secretary general Tony Zarb yesterday dismissed talk of the unions being in agreement with the latest energy tariffs proposed by the government.

He said the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin and the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions had been "hasty" in saying that they agreed with the proposals because the GWU and another 10 unions were still seeking clarifications. There was still no agreement, he said.

The unions are asking for a meeting with the government's technical people dealing with the workings on the tariffs before taking a stand on the new proposals, he added.

The GWU and the other unions want the government to explain how it concluded that 138,333 families out of Malta's 190,342 (73 per cent) will be covered by the eco discount scheme.

They also want an explanation on one of the points in the government's document which says that if oil prices next year do not reflect the targets the government has set, the tariffs will have to be adjusted upward.

The government estimated that the latest changes will cost €4.2 million. For accounting purposes this is being equated to a reduction in Enemalta's spend on oil for the year ahead. However, if the estimates are overshot, the tariffs will be adjusted accordingly.

But Mr Zarb questioned whether this constituted a safety clause by which the government might ditch the agreement with the unions.

In this regard, he said he was disappointed with the haste of the UĦM and the CMTU, asking: "What happens if it turns out that the 73 per cent figure is not correct?"

His comments come as the president of the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT), John Bencini suggested that his union might pull out of the CMTU over serious divergences, which include the fact that the latter immediately accepted the government's latest proposals on energy bills. In fact, the MUT is one of the unions demanding further explanations.