GWU proposes national working group on migration

A series of proposals including the setting up of a national working group on migration to draw up an action plan on the subject have been made by GWU general secretary Tony Zarb.

Addressing a national conference organised by the GWU on "Fair Pay, Fair Play: Equal Rights", which dealt with the phenomenon of migrants on the labour market, Mr Zarb also proposed a joint effort by all trade unions for migrant workers to become union members.

This, he said, would ensure better protection. He also proposed that employers who exploited workers should be named and shamed.

Justice Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici said the government condemned any abuse or exploitation of migrant workers and even the discrimination they suffered.

He appealed to migrants to tell their stories so that action could be taken. The minister said that, on the other hand, employers complained that after training migrants and giving them work experience, the employees were lost as they left the island.

Labour Party deputy leader Anġlu Farrugia said the exploitation of employment was rampant in Malta, to the detriment of the workers and the honest employers.