Call for better protection of foreign labour in high season

Better law enforcement was needed to ensure that foreigners working in Malta during the busy tourism months were not abused by employers, the general secretary of the General Workers’ Union, Tony Zarb said.

The tourism sector was the largest employer within the services’ industry, he said. The tourism industry was busiest in the summer months, which meant that some seasonal migrant workers ended up without a job during winter.

Mr Zarb was speaking during a conference on the responsible management of seasonal migration in a period of economic crisis in the tourism industry.

The conference, organised by the GWU and other members of the Confederation of Trade Unions, brought together union representatives from various countries. They discussed a proposed EU directive on establishing common entry and residence conditions for third country seasonal workers.

There are about eight million migrant workers in the EU, making up four per cent of the workforce. Such workers are more vulnerable because they are not nationals of the state where they are working.

The secretary of the GWU’s hospitality section, Joseph Bugeja, explained that, on paper, Maltese law protected seasonal workers from abuse as it laid down that there had to be equal pay for equal work. However, this did not always happen in practice and there was lack of enforcement of the law, he said. There were cases of legal foreign workers who were not paid fairly but feared speaking up because they could lose their job.

The Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Mario de Marco said the employment of third country workers was a sensitive topic because some locals feared foreigners would take their jobs. Yet, they often filled jobs that locals did not.

He said the exploitation of any worker was not to be tolerated and stressed it was the duty of the EU and of governments to protect workers from abuse and citizens from unregulated third country workers.

Turning to the tourism sector, he pointed out that surveys showed that 80 per cent of tourists rated services in Malta as “good” or “very good” in the off-peak season. The figure dropped to 73 per cent during peak months. This suggested that the influx of less trained seasonal workers diluted the quality of the service offered, Dr de Marco said. This in turn highlighted the importance of the proper training of third country nationals who came to work in the tourism industry in Malta during the peak summer months, he said.

Labour Party tourism spokesman Marie-Louise Coleiro-Preca pointed out that 24 per cent of people in employment were dependent on the tourism industry. During the international crisis, Malta had lost about 4.3 per cent of employment in the sector.

Figures issued by the Employment and Training Corporation showed that the hospitality industry was responsible for the highest number of abuse in employment.