When the Malta Employers’ Association drew up disputable proposals to be incorporated in amendments to the industrial relations law, it must have surely known the kind of reaction it would get from trade unions.

The proposals were not only shot down but, even at such an early stage, one trade union quickly sought to remind everyone of its might when it threatened industrial action if they were to go through. The government has entered the debate too, with the Prime Minister calling some of the proposals draconian.

There would seem to be no chance that proposals over the forfeiture of entitlement to additional leave for public holidays falling between Monday and Friday would be accepted as opposition to them is far too strong for the political parties to support them in Parliament. Other proposals may be considered equally objectionable, but not all the proposals ought to be dismissed out of hand. It would be wise too to put across the message that if workers have rights, they have obligations as well.

Employers are being accused of being shortsighted, and only thinking of their interests. The same accusation can at times also be levelled at trade unions for they, too, often look after their own interests. The best way forward therefore is for the two sides to put their heads together and see what the grievances are in order to find the right solutions that do justice to both sides, without infringing workers’ rights and without jeopardising the conditions that enable employers to remain in business.

What seems to have particularly irked many is a proposal that would cause workers who do not report for work because of self-inflicted conditions – such as a hangover, sunstroke or sport injuries – to lose their entitlement to sick leave. This is absurd for, as one trade unionist said, if a doctor certifies an employee as being sick, he should be entitled to sick leave.

Rather than putting it in such a crude manner, the employers ought to have focused on sick leave abuse, a matter that surely deserves to be thrashed out.

This is an emotive issue that often raises the hackles of trade unions. There is no question that sick leave abuse is rampant, and it would be the height of irresponsibility if any of the stakeholders in the economy were to shut both eyes to the problem and fight measures meant to check such abuse.

A Labour government had once imposed measures that were equivalent to house arrest for workers reporting sick – draconian measures best left as reminders of a repressive administration.

One proposal that surely makes sense calls for the legal definition of union member to mean up-to-date, fully paid-up member. The need for it has long been felt as a trade union may well claim as members workers who no longer wish to remain on a trade union’s membership register.

There are other proposals that should be put on the table for discussion, such as the cost-of-living wage adjustment mechanism, another highly contentious issue. One minister said the government had amendments of its own in mind. What is it waiting for before making them public?

Raising the temperature in an already very hot climate, as one trade unionist tried to do when he said “if they (the employers) want a long hot summer, we are ready for it,” will not solve issues. What would help is a more reasonable attitude that allows for all parties to find common ground.

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