A three-hour meeting of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development this morning has been described by the social partners as “cordial”.

In the meeting it was agreed that the government should present a report on inflation by the end of March, by when a decision should also be taken whether compensation should be given, and what it should be, to make up for the increase in prices.

There was also agreement to start discussions on reforming the cost of living adjustment mechanism.

UHM PROPOSALS

In a statement, the UHM said its proposals included a cash payment to be made by March 31 to cover the increase in inflation since October. This payment should not be taxable and should also be given to pensioners.

It said that as of next year, the cost of living increase should not continue to be given to the nearest 25c but in full.

The union said it proposed the setting up of an MCESD sub-committee to evaluate the relationship between the base wage on which the Cola was calculated and the social wage according to the 1990 Incomes Policy agreement.

The UHM said that other proposals were for a retail price index with a new weighting frame to be introduced retroactively to January 1, 2010 and for prices and tariffs which required the approval of the regulator to be drawn up with the involvement of the social partners within the MCESD.

GWU STATEMENT

The GWU expressed its satisfaction that the social partners had agreed to the requests of the Ghaqda Unions Maltin, an organisation made up of the Forum and the GWU.

The union said that its proposals included that immediate compensation should be given for the fuel increases and that the cost of living adjustment would be calculated on the average wage.

The GWU said it was satisfied there seemed to have been agreement in principle about the discussion during the MCESD meeting. It said it was confident that a solid agreement would be reached following the discussions that had to continue in the MCESD.