Prime Minister Joseph Muscat this afternoon expressed concern on rising tensions among trade unions over recognition issues and called for a code of conduct and the setting up of a trade union council

“Workers will benefit very little from pyrrhic victories,” Dr Muscat warned.

The Prime Minister made this appeal in his address at the general conference of the Forum Unions Maltin. He said that a trade union council would be the ideal forum for unions to trash out disputes without resorting to unnecessary industrial action.

Dr Muscat added that unions also needed to find a compromise on simple issues such as Malta’s representatives on the European Economic and Social Committee, where five seats were up for grabs every five years.

“Rather than leave such a decision to the government, I am inviting you to find common ground and come up with the names yourselves,” Dr Muscat told union representatives attending for the conference.

In his address, the Prime Minister said that in spite of the efforts by the Labour administration, more needed to be done in the fight against precarious employment. On a positive note he said families spending power was rising, and unemployment was low.

The conference was also addressed by Opposition leader Simon Busuttil who called for more initiatives to attract investment in new sectors. He cautioned that half the jobs being created were being taken up by foreigners and questioned whether this had to do with substandard working conditions.

Dr Busuttil quoted a recent Labour Force Survey which showed that under the Labour government wages increased by €3.50 per week, whereas during the Nationalist administration the increase was €10 per week.

On his part, AD chairman Arnold Cassola called for legislative changes which would allow for multiple trade union recognition.

 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.