The Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD) will hold an urgent meeting on Friday to discuss the latest fuel and gas price increases.
Requests for an urgent meeting were made separately by the government, the GWU and the UHM.
The GRTU meanwhile complained that decisions such as this should be discussed before they are taken.
Separately, the PL also said it would hold a national protest demonstration on January 14 over the same issue.
The MCESD meeting will be held a year, almost to the day, after another meeting was held to discuss new power tariffs. That meeting had been boycotted by the GWU which argued that it could not accept consultation in reverse - after decisions were taken. It said it did not want to be a rubber stamp for decisions which had already been taken.
Earlier today, the GWU and the UHM in separate statements slammed the fuel and gas increases and said they would seek to have the issue discussed in the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development.
The GWU said the latest increases were a source of serious concern since more families would find it difficult to make ends meet.
It was disgusting how, in two months, fuel prices had gone up three times. The government was showing itself to be insensitive to the plight of the people, while it had found the money to raise ministers' salaries by €600 a week.
It was ironic that while the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty had just ended, in Malta the people's living conditions were being made worse.
The union noted that gas prices had risen by an average of €2.40, with the least increase being of €1.40c for a 10kg gas cylinder, which was the most popular.
Such increases reduced the €1.16 cost of living increase to nothing.
"Clearly, the liberalisation of energy products has not benefited the people but is causing hardship," the union said.
In view of the impact of such increases on people's purchasing power and on the economy, the GWU said it was seeking an urgent meeting of the MCESD.
The UHM said the latest increases were not factored in when the €1.16 cost of living increase that was given in the Budget and as things were, the people had to carry the burden without compensation until January next year.
"The workers, pensioners and families cannot continue to carry this burden without proper compensation to safeguard their standard of living," the UHM said.
It also expressed concern that these increases would lead to demands for higher salaries and higher prices of other products, undermining competitiveness.