The leader of July 13, in connection with the Kitchen Garden staff contracts, said: “The President also accused the journalist who penned the report in this newspaper of trying to discredit the 40 years of work she had done to help workers.”

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown! I take this opportunity to thank the President for the 40 years she mentions but facts remain facts and the Times of Malta is to be lauded for its unbiased coverage.

I would be failing readers if I did not mention that in the last 36 years, from 1979 to date, there has been exploitation not only of workers but, in a selective and anti-constitutional manner, also exploitation of former Maltese government civil servants and ex-British crown workers upon reaching pensionable age among others.

Indeed, way back in 1979 my late father, who worked at HM Dockyard, discovered that the amount of his pension due from Britain was to be abated (reduced) from his paid-up Maltese pension by Dom Mintoff. He was in tears, stating that to collect the equivalent of one pension he had to cash two cheques.

Neither Labour nor the presidency came to his rescue.

Today, my NI pension is €89.27 weekly, probably the minimum payable by the NI. During the course of 39 years, 1967 to 2006, I paid the highest NI contribution, so my rightful pension today (2015) should be €229.15 per week. This works out at a reduction (robbing) of €7,274 annually to the nearest euro.

Quoting from Wikipedia, the President is appointed by a resolution of the House of Representatives to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution. Retired MPs were not and are not subjected to any pension reduction. The same cannot be said of pensioners who have more than one pension. This category of society is still being subjected to gigantic discriminatory reductions.

I hope that, with the intervention of the President, such malpractices will cease as from January 2016. Time will tell.

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