Gejtu Vella, the secretary general of the Union Haddiema Maghqudin, has asked the government to focus more on the national economic situation and warned that companies which do not need government help should not be entitled to any assistance funded by the taxpayer.
In an interview with The Times Business he said: “The economic situation is being handled by the government on a case by case basis on a micro level where discussions are held with individual companies according to their particular needs and circumstances. A decision is then taken to help the company retain its workforce and possibly expand. This, I believe, is a good approach but one needs to see the broader national picture. We must not end up in a situation where companies keep saying ‘Give me some more’”.
Mr Vella said it was good to focus on the individual needs of companies but “we must be careful to avoid a situation in which companies which do not really need any help are entitled to such assistance. After all, such help is financed by the people’s taxes,” he said.
He added: “The government must make the economic situation a national priority. Unfortunately, in the last few months this has not been on the national agenda. We had the utility tariffs on the national agenda, which while important should not have been the number one priority. For us the most important thing is job creation.”
Mr Vella said the way the government dealt with the question of the utility rates was mishandled from day one. “Dialogue was almost non-existent. The rates were first increased, then reduced after we negotiated with the Prime Minister and they will be reduced once again as a result of the decrease in the price of oil. All this took place over a five month period.
“Many companies increased their prices of services and products which will now certainly not be decreased. How wise was it for the government to increase the utility tariffs so quickly? It should have listened more to what the unions and employers were saying over this question,” he said.
Mr Vella said the UHM was now waiting for the utility rates to be revised downwards, especially since the price of oil had remained stable “contrary to the predictions in this country that the price of oil would go up to $200 a barrel”.
He added: “I am convinced that the utility rates now have to reflect the international price of oil. It is important that this problem is dealt with as soon as possible and no longer remains the number one national priority.”
Mr Vella said he was very worried that many social issues have been relegated to the back burner within the MCSED due to the economic situation and the utility rates issue.
“We wrote to the MCESD chairman to ask to be allowed to give a presentation about what we are coming face to face with in the market. For example, it is a sad fact that a leading company is inserting a clause in its employment contracts prohibiting employees from joining a union. This is illegal and we must be careful not to allow certain companies to take advantage of the economic situation,” he said.
See full interview with Gejtu Vella in today’s The Times Business.