We hear a lot about the principle of equal pay for equal work but to what extent is this principle being respected?

The government has been dubbed, time and again, as the ‘exemplary employer’. Indeed, a look at the previous collective agreement for the civil service would show that a janitor in scale 17 had his salary increased in 2015 by €307, from €12,528 in 2014 to €12,835 for 2015. Again, the same janitor in scale 17 had a salary rise of €307, from €12,835 in 2015 to €13,142 for 2016.

A janitor with a private company received a cost of living adjustment of 58c per week in 2015 followed by €1.75 for 2016.

So, corresponding annual increases were €307 for the janitor in the civil service (scale 17) and a miserable average of €60.58 for the janitor with a private company.

Effectively, this means that the latter was only compensated by under 20 per cent of the former. Now, call it agreement, call it COLA, what difference does it make?

Also, besides the ‘exemplary employer’ label, we are always informed that the government is after recruiting the best people for the civil service. Does this mean that a janitor who is a civil servant as in the case above is five times better than a janitor employed in the private sector?

Clearly, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has a lot of explaining to do. According to him, 58c a week in 2015 was enough.

What an exemplary employer!