Combating precarious employment by introducing obligatory trade union membership is not on the cards as such move could be “unconstitutional” and possibly in breach of EU law, the Prime Minister said yesterday.

Joseph Muscat raised this point during a debate organised during the Union Ħaddiema Maqħudin general conference held at the Radisson Blu in St in Julian’s.

The Prime Minister was reacting to a recent Times of Malta story which revealed that over the past two years some 3,000 employment irregularities had been uncovered in the tourism and catering industry.

Employees in certain SMEs are reluctant to join a union as they feel they will be putting their job on the line, and the State is not doing enough to protect them

“Unfortunately employees in certain small and medium enterprises are reluctant to join a trade union as they feel they will be putting their job on the line, and the State is not doing enough to protect them in this respect,” Dr Muscat acknowledged.

However, the government has been advised against introducing mandatory trade union membership as in Australia “as this could be unconstitutional, if not against EU laws”, he added.

The Prime Minister’s remark fuelled an immediate reaction from UĦM general secretary Josef Vella, who rejected this claim, insisting there was nothing illegal in such move. He added that mandatory union membership would be a giant stride forward for workers’ rights in Malta.

Mr Vella expressed his disappointment that the government had not taken up the UĦM’s proposal to prepare a study on the effects of the introduction of second-pillar pensions in Malta.

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil (left) and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat (right) were present to speak on precarious employment and wages.

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil warned that from official data in the Economic Survey, there had been a decline of €600 in the average wage of employees in the manufacturing sector.

While welcoming the record low unemployment level mentioned earlier by the Prime Minister, the PN leader said declining exports and industrial production were alarming signs for the economy.

Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Arnold Cassola, who was also on the panel, questioned who was running the country.

He said that recent tragedies like the one at Paqpaqli ghall-Istrina, the Paceville incident which left dozens of young people injured, and the tiger attack at an illegal zoo, had left many questioning about whether the rule of law was still being observed.