Conference on work laments ‘lost’ Sundays

The two major trade unions yesterday complained that the government has not only failed to introduce promised legislation against precarious work but it was resorting to the practice itself.

Speaking at a conference entitled Does Sunday Belong To Everyone?, organised by the Pastoral Commission on Work, Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin general secretary Gejtu Vella said: “We have a commitment in writing from the present government, made prior to the last general election, that it would introduce specific legislation preventing employees from registering as self-employed and, thus, having poor working conditions. This was made to the public. Two and a half years on, nothing has happened.

“We have a Department of Information statement saying the law would be implemented as soon as the term started. Two and a half years on and what have we seen? Nothing,” Mr Vella said.

“Today, the government is even using these measures itself. The economy is important but do we give people value?” he asked, calling for the interest of workers to be put squarely back on the agenda.

The general secretary of the General Workers’ Union, Tony Zarb called on the Church to take the fight against dangerous working conditions to the pulpits. Some contractors had employees working 30 hours but only paid them for 20. People working part-time on Sundays tended to be those most prone to abuse, he added.

“We have people working in precarious conditions on weekends, people who work 14 hours a day on Saturday and Sunday without being paid overtime. We expect everyone to condemn this.”

Throughout the conference, intended to address the issue of work on Sundays, the work-family balance took centre stage, with Sunday being described as a day where families could get together and rest. Acknowledging there were services that still had to be carried out on Sundays, it was generally felt that although it was a necessary evil in some cases, it should be avoided wherever possible.

The representative of the Malta Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises – GRTU, Josette Vella, who runs a business, said it was not the consumers’ prerogative to decide whether shops should open on Sundays, much in the same way as it was not possible to get a doctor home or dictate whether a pharmacy should open or not. It was already difficult on the family to have to open a business from Monday to Saturday.

“What makes the country’s success is the family. We are not ready to sacrifice our families for business,” Ms Vella said.

The Labour Party secretary of the executive, Lydia Abela, said that in her practice as a family lawyer most of the marriages in the separation cases she handled had broken down because one of the spouses was always working to be able to pay off loans.

Concluding the meeting, Mgr Anton Gouder, stepping in for Archbishop Paul Cremona who was sick and had to stay at home, cited the slogan of an Italian conference held five years ago: We Can’t Live Without Sundays. “This is a statement (society) made after a lot of suffering. We are now realising what we have lost (by making Sunday like any other day of the week)”, Mgr Gouder said, adding that the Sabbath served as a time when people could reflect on their relationship with God, others and themselves.

“A sociologist who had visited Malta on the Church’s invitation told us that in Malta, ‘people work like slaves to live like kings’,” Mgr Gouder said, adding: “Are we really slaves; are we really kings?”