Any revision of the minimum wage would be dependent on economic growth under a Labour Government, party leader Joseph Muscat said yesterday, expanding on his pledge not to raise the threshold if elected.
As his political rival, Lawrence Gonzi, accused him of wanting to “freeze” the minimum wage, Dr Muscat insisted during a television interview that (barring statutory cost of living increases, which would still be given) Labour would only review the minimum wage in line with economic growth.
“Economic growth has to be our priority because, otherwise, we will have problems creating jobs and sustaining our social services,” he said.
The pledge, which, he admitted, was controversial, comes exactly two years after Dr Muscat called for the introduction of a ‘living wage’ – a calculation of how much money a person needs to live a decent life – that would be significantly higher than the current minimum wage of €158 a week.
Yesterday, he referred to the living wage concept but argued that his party “does not have a problem” with changing its position.
Dr Muscat’s stand on the way ahead for the minimum wage appears to have changed some time ago.
When the Church organisation Caritas released a report in March calling for an increase of about €22 to the minimum wage, Dr Muscat was careful not to tie himself to the report’s conclusions, saying it would be “useless” to raise the minimum wage without first cutting costs.
He returned to that theme yesterday and stressed that, while he never excluded cost of living increases, any raise in the basic threshold would have to be accompanied by economic growth. Once the country improved economically, “we can move onto other things such as raising the minimum wage,” he said.
Adding further pressures on employers and businesses now was “unwise”, he insisted, adding that it would lead to more precarious employment and more migration to the black economy.
He again stressed on the need of economic growth when discussing the government’s goal to balance the Budget, arguing that, while fiscal consolidation was important, it should not come at the cost of growth.
“As progressives, our attitude has to be pro-business and pro-jobs and through these improve people’s standard of living,” he said.
Yesterday’s TV appearance saw Dr Muscat flanked by Gianni Pittella, an Italian MEP and first vice president of the European Parliament, who endorsed the Labour leader with an appeal to people: “Trust him and you won’t regret it.”
Asked for his comments about Labour’s first ever congress, which ended on Saturday, Dr Muscat said it had been a bigger success than he had dared hope for.
He said the workshops held as part of the congress showed how Labour had become a movement and how people wanted politicians to shut up and listen.