(Adds PN reaction)

The deputy leader of the Labour Party said today that the PN’s pre-election promises of job creation and job security were already evaporating.

In a statement, Anglu Farrugia, the party spokesman on employment, referred to the announcement yesterday that Trelleborg would be putting its 600 workers on a four-day week.

He said other companies were also facing problems, particularly in the tourism sector. And the situation would get worse if the government went ahead with its plans to bring in higher utility tariffs.

He said the MLP would continue to try to persuade the government to alter course. It was sure that the people had already realised, just months after the election, that there was a difference between what Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said before and after the election, Dr Farrugia said.

The Nationalist Party in a reaction said Dr Farrugia had chosen to ignore a number of facts about the labour sector.

For example, Dr Farrugia had not said anything about the fact that in May, the gainfully occupied increased by 2,800 over May 2007, and unemployment was down by 560.

The self-employed increased by 200, private sector jobs were up by 3,200 and part-time employees in the past 12 months increased by 2,773.

Such was the PN record, that since 1987 the number of full-time jobs had increased y 29,000. This had happened as the PN created the proper investment climate.

Nonetheless, the government was well aware of the current international turmoil and would take courageous decisions to ensure that Malta overcame the challenges it faced and would continue to attract investment, the PN said.