Government agencies were still contracting companies which paid their workers below the minimum wage, Labour leader Joseph Muscat claimed yesterday.
"The government is not leading by example. We need immediate drastic action," he said during a public meeting in Rabat.
In its electoral manifesto, the Nationalist Party had promised to ban all contracts of employment which deny workers their rights or adequate working conditions.
The Opposition leader yesterday said his party wanted to see quality jobs with decent salaries, adding that this would be the party's main theme for its Workers Day celebrations in a few weeks' time.
The issue had been touched upon last September by Social Policy Minister John Dalli, who said the country could not have "cowboys" winning government contracts because they exploited workers.
He had insisted that if working conditions were not observed, contracts could be terminated and that a new practice was in place whereby calls for tenders demanded details on the conditions which would be offered to workers.
But the Labour leader insisted yesterday that some government agencies were still flouting these rules.
A spokesman for the Social Policy Ministry said working conditions were being incorporated in the ministry's own contracts but admitted that it was still working to extend this measure to all government contracts.
Dr Muscat also questioned figures given by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, who said 7,000 new jobs had been created in 2008. When the number of jobs lost was calculated, the difference was only of around 2,500, Dr Muscat said.
"We cannot look solely at figures but also at the type of work being created," he said, adding that 19 per cent of workers had a part-time job as their main source of income, while many others were being employed on short-term contracts which did not allow them to take out a bank loan.
The Nationalist Party accused Dr Muscat of giving a warped picture of the local employment sit-uation, adding that in the first eight months of last year the government had attracted €417 million in foreign investment. The authorities had also taken decisions and incentives to increase the participation of women in work.
Dr Muscat claimed the government planned to again raise gas prices after the June 6 European Parliament elections, following a 35 per cent increase last week. He added that the recent increase was imposed by the government and not the private company which had taken over Enemalta's gas division.
He also said that the recently proposed reductions in water and electricity rates were not enough and did not reflect current oil prices. Even, had oil prices been at a record high, putting more burdens on middle class families jammed the economy when every euro left in people's pockets should be used to boost it.
Referring to the recent gas leak at Hexagon House, which houses some of Mepa's offices, Dr Muscat called for an inquiry to determine why complaints made by Marsa mayor Francis Debono had been ignored. Last month, Mr Debono told The Times that reports had also been lodged with the Valletta police station.
Speaking about the upcoming MEP elections, Dr Muscat said the Labour Party needed to work hard to get a good result, adding that disillusioned Labour supporters needed to be convinced that EU membership could reap results.
Dr Muscat said newly sworn-in President George Abela would be facing important challenges, including ensuring that the beliefs of both majorities and minorities were respected. He also pointed to a need to reform the way the Malta Community Chest Fund was managed.