The government has not seen the last of employers on the issue of energy bills yet, as both the Federation of Industry and the chamber of SMEs insist they are still unhappy with the recently revised tariffs.
In a circular to its members yesterday, the Chamber of Small and Medium Businesses - GRTU said the new rates were still not acceptable and warned that if the government forged ahead with their retroactive introduction, as from October, the chamber would be prepared to take the issue to court.
Similarly, FOI president Martin Galea said that, while the government had given in on the trade unions' requests, it has not helped industry out despite the impending global recession.
"This is a critical time when industry needs to be helped, especially when keeping in mind that some companies have already announced redundancies," he said.
"While governments in other countries are bailing out banks and helping companies, we have to shoulder more burdens," FOI director general Ray Muscat said.
Echoing the FOI complaint, the GRTU said the new tariffs were out of touch with the current economic climate faced by SMEs and Maltese households.
"Households need a direct money injection to help them sustain their traditional level of expenditure which is so important to keep the level of employment in the commerce and services sector.
"Enterprises also need to enjoy a reduction in costs and not an increase in the electricity tariff regime that the government is trying to impose."
The GRTU said its national council has written to the Prime Minister requesting a redesign of the tariff regime to include an approximate reduction of 25 per cent on the proposed tariffs for 2009. It also insisted it would not accept any backdating of payments.
"Insistence by the government will leave us with no alternative but to take the issue to the law courts," the GRTU warned.
No matter what changes are made, the government does not seem to be able to broker a deal that is more or less acceptable for everyone.
The tariffs announced originally at the end of October would have seen the capping of the surcharge for industry removed over a three-year period.
The following week a new regime was announced limiting the increase in electricity bills - to 40 per cent for the coming year - for companies that used to benefit from the capping mechanism.
But big industry still says it is not enough while the GRTU has already warned that it will not allow its members to pay for the consumption of big companies.
Similarly, last week another adjustment geared towards households was made, following talks with the unions, but the changes split unions with the Union Ħaddiema Magħudin and the Confederation of Maltese Trade Unions approving the proposals and another 11 unions, including the General Workers Union and the Malta Union of Teachers, asking for more information.
In the meantime, a survey carried out by the Federation of Industry found that the electricity tariffs as originally announced could have forced 61 local companies to reduce their workforce by almost 15 per cent.
The FOI director general said the firms, which employ some 12,600 people on a full-time basis and are responsible for €1.7 billion in exports, would have had to shrink their workforce due to the increase in costs.
The majority of job cuts would have been due to downsizing, while 138 jobs would have been lost to closure and eight because of relocation.
Companies were also expecting their pre-tax profits to shrink by a sixth as an impact of the new tariffs.
The survey was carried out among some of the FOI's biggest members soon after the government announced the new electricity tariffs in October, which were later revised.
But while he said it would be presumptuous to say what the impact of the latest tariff regime would be, the federation is still worried about the effects.
Industry is also concerned that the legal notice establishing the new rates has not yet been published, resulting in confusion among its members, especially since the new regime is retroactive to October 1.