On the occasion of workers’ day AD Chairperson, Prof. Arnold Cassola said: “Precarious work is still here to haunt us. The government has blacklisted two companies but in reality it should actually blacklist itself since government is issuing tenders offering 5.78 euros an hour as labour payment. No doubt the tender winners end up then paying their employees a miserly 4.14 euros an hour, or around that.

“Moreover, unequal pay for equal work is now also being experienced. For example, Arriva drivers employed with Transport Malta are paid 5.15 euros an hour, whilst the drivers contracted by private companies and doing the same work get paid around double. Clerks in Mater Dei employed by Group 4 are getting paid much less then government clerks doing the same work in the same hospitals. Such injustices cannot continue and decent salaries for all must be assured.”

AD Deputy Chairperson, Carmel Cacopardo, said: “As a party that believes in social justice and social equality, we believe that there is much more to be done to ensure a more accessible and just labour market. Despite some effort by the Government to fight precarious employment, there are still workers who do not enjoy decent working conditions. Some groups are more vulnerable than others and are more likely to be exploited due to a number of factors such as their level of education, their sexual orientation, skin colour, and gender. More efforts have to be made to ensure that the laws are enforced. Once more we insist on the importance of revising the minimum wage.”

Robert Callus, AD spokesperson on social issues, said: “We are happy that the Government will soon be introducing free childcare schemes to ensure that the labour market is more accessible to parents with small children. AD has been harping on the need for policies which facilitiate a work-life balance for many years. However, we still need to work harder to ensure that the labour market truly gives equal opportunities to all. For example, persons with disability find it very difficult to find employment. Women are still absent in the higher positions of society. Non-Maltese still suffer discrimination.

“We acknowledge that the Government has launched a scheme to ensure that more young people are in education, training or employment. Although in Malta inactivity is a bigger problem than unemployment, we cannot dismiss unemployment figures especially among young people. The rate of youth unemployment is double the national average. Apart from the problem of early school leavers, the problem of underemployment is also being felt in Malta. Therefore we have to work harder to encourage more people to improve their skills and education but also to ensure that they will find a matching job after they finish their studies.”

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