Constitutional changes ensuring fiscal consolidation and discipline should have been discussed with the social partners before reaching Parliament, the General Workers’ Union’s general secretary, Tony Zarb, said.
...Europe is there for the people, not the people for Europe
Mr Zarb said that since the matter was being seen as a means towards the ultimate aim of achieving growth and job creation, in turn affecting workers and employers, the issue should have been discussed at the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development.
He was addressing a press conference called by the GWU and Forum Unions Maltin, both affiliates of the European Trade Union Confederation, as part of the European unions’ day of action against austerity measures. They presented Justice Minister Chris Said, on behalf of the Prime Minister, with a letter calling for support and emphasising the importance of quality jobs, fighting precarious employment and social justice.
As members of the ETUC, GWU and Forum joined another 83 confederations in a European Day of Action yesterday on the eve of a European summit where heads of state and of government will decide on measures that will affect millions of workers.
Forum president John Bencini said the economic and social crisis was affecting millions of European workers and the austerity measures were making the situation worse.
Unemployment had reached record levels in Europe with 23 million people, including five million youths, being jobless. In Europe, 115 million, nearly a quarter of the population, were at risk of poverty and social exclusion.
The Maltese government was asked by Brussels to cut its Budget by €40 million, including a €1.4 million from in the social sector, Mr Bencini said.
Mr Zarb said the slogan for this European Day of Action was Enough Is Enough, similar to that used by his union 12 years ago in a campaign to raise awareness about the burdens on workers, pensioners and their families.
He said the ETUC was saying no to the reduction of salaries and pensions, the privatisation of public services and anything that undermined social dialogue.
“Workers are paying the price for something which they are not to blame for. Europe is there for the people, not the people for Europe,” he said.
Receiving the letter, Dr Said noted that the government expressed solidarity with Europeans who were losing their jobs.
Fortunately, Malta had continued to generate employment and attract investment but this did not mean there were no problems. Economic growth in Malta was 2.4 per cent against the EU average of 1.8 per cent and a total of 6,000 new jobs had been created in 12 months.