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The GWU will not be attending this afternoon's meeting of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD) because it does not want to be a rubber stamp for decisions which have already been taken, general secretary Tony Zarb, said today.

He said the union delegation would hand a letter to the chairman and then walk out.

Mr Zarb said at a press conference that the Prime Minister had already declared that the new tariffs would stay. This meeting, he said, would only involve an explanation by the regulator on how he had arrived at the new tariffs - without consulting the social partners.

The GWU had been among the unions and employers which had sought an urgent meeting of the council, in the second half of December. It later complained, however, that the council meeting had been convened too late and after the new tariffs had come into force.

FORUM unions protest

In a separate press conference, John Bencini, representing the FORUM trade union grouping, said the grouping was again protesting that it had not been made a member of the MCESD.

He said that the trade unions were concerned by the negative impact of the new tariffs on the people's pockets and the economy.

"The new tariffs will undermine the incentives announced in the Budget," Mr Bencini said. "They will also make economic recovery more difficult."

The Forum groups 12 trade unions, including the MUT and the MUMN.

Both press conferences were held outside the Hotel Phoenicia, where the MCESD is to meet.