The General Workers' Union has for the past weeks embarked on a campaign aimed at instilling in the public an awareness that people have a right to a job and therefore government should do all it can to pursue an economic strategy that generates jobs.
A number of issues immediately come to mind. I do not believe that there is any government in this country that does not do its best to create an environment that is conducive to job creation. Employment has always been an important yardstick to measure the success or otherwise of governments in this country.
It may be that a government would not be pursuing the best economic strategy for the country in terms of employment creation, but the same can be said about the social partners and their rigid approach on a number of issues. One also remembers a similar campaign on jobs by the General Workers' Union five years ago just after the 1998 election; however that hump was soon overcome. One does not know what the future beholds and, as such, one cannot be certain of when we shall be overcoming the current hump. In this context, that the GWU highlights the need for policies that generate employment is appropriate.
On the other hand, as with any other challenge in life, one cannot just talk about it. One needs to find solutions to overcome the current difficulties. On the premise that there does not exist one solution, and that there exists no easy solution, in such situations one cannot just talk of only rights; one has to mention responsibilities as well. It is this strong link between rights and responsibilities that gives credence to the proposal advanced by the Union Haddiema Maghqudin to hammer out a new social pact among all the social partners. This is why a few weeks ago I claimed that we cannot waste our time allocating blame as we are all part of the cause of the problem and part of its solution.
This brings us to the key aspect of all this issue. Employees may claim a right to a job, irrespective of the economic situation of the country. Similarly, may entrepreneurs claim a right to operate their business in an environment that would always guarantee them a profit? Is there such a right to a job or to profit irrespective of the circumstances? Is there a recognition that there is a strong relationship between jobs and profit; and that it is not an inverse relationship? Can jobs exist if there is no profit? Should jobs exist if there is no profit?
In other words, the drive for a fair profit on the part of the entrepreneur creates jobs; and job creation helps the entrepreneur to make more profit. The alternative to this is jobs in the public service where the need for profit does not arise; even if the stability of public finances would be threatened. The current size of the fiscal deficit is one of the negative consequences of the decision to employ several thousands of people in the public sector without any justification in the mid-1980s.
This positive relationship between profit and job creation brings into play the aspect of competitiveness. It is the advantage we all wish to have for our businesses; not at our expense but at someone else's expense. So we hear trade unionists say that they will not give up one inch of all the benefits they now enjoy, ignoring the fact these benefits are all tied to a job. And unless we ensure that our businesses remain competitive there will be no jobs that would allow such benefits.
Similarly we also hear of business people who constantly seek to maintain a monopolist situation within the market in which they operate thereby creaming it off through their pricing, who complain of taxation without making one proposal to government of how to raise enough revenue to pay for public expenditure, and who expect government to support their businesses without making any commitments to employ more people. It is as if the world owes them a profit, ignoring the fact that they operate in a civil society and that it is this civil society which is enabling them to make a profit.
Does not all this indicate that we need to start focussing more on the responsibilities that both employees and businesses have to ensure that companies operating in Malta remain competitive? It is only when they both live up to these responsibilities that one can assert one's right to a job or one's right to be able to operate a business profitably.