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Public holidays falling on a weekend will no longer be compensated with additional vacation leave after unions failed to agree on a social pact, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.
Announcing his intention to go ahead with the original budget measure to prevent public holidays falling on a weekend from being added to employees’ vacation leave, Gonzi said he will amend the Public Holidays Act permanently.
Speaking to the press at Castille yesterday evening after days of intense negotiations, Gonzi said the social pact could not be signed because the General Workers’ Union did not agree on a number of measures as proposed.
“I was waiting for an answer from the unions on whether it was possible to reach a social pact,” Gonzi said. “It was either a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’. The answer is ‘no’ and next Monday (tomorrow) Government will continue with its legislative programme. The budget measures are now at committee stage in Parliament and when all clauses are discussed we will add a new clause to implement the public holidays measure.”
Without ruling out the continuation of social dialogue Gonzi was adamant that he intended amending the Public Holidays Act. “The amendment will be a permanent one and not limited to any particular year,” Gonzi declared.
This means that over the next four years employees will lose 15 days of vacation leave derived from public holidays falling on a weekend.
Gonzi insisted that the long and intense discussions with all social partners were not a waste of time but said he could not wait forever until an agreement was reached.
The unions went their separate ways yesterday afternoon when GWU made it clear it would not budge on the unions’ original proposals to the government.
The Union Haddiema Maghqudin and Confederation of Malta Trade Unions accepted the latest proposals put forward by the government while GWU was adamant in its opposition. On the other hand, the remaining trade unions who had teamed up in the united front (FORUM) had not yet taken a position yesterday.
“We remained loyal to the unions’ proposals,” General Workers’ Union Secretary General Tony Zarb said in a press conference, implying that UHM and CMTU had given in to the government’s requests.
The GWU wrote to the prime minister yesterday evening informing him that it did not accept the government’s proposals.
“We’ve evaluated the situation and we feel that we cannot give our consent to the latest proposals put forward by the government,” Zarb said. “We’ve considered the burdens that will have to be shouldered by workers, as against those to be shouldered by government and employers, and it is clear that workers are going to be the worst hit.”
Asked whether other unions apart from those belonging to CMTU agreed with GWU, Zarb said: “I don’t think we’re alone.”
MUT President John Bencini said later that the unions ultimately disagreed on minor issues.
“The government’s proposals weren’t ideal but we could have lived with them,” Bencini said. “I now hope that government sticks to them and does not resort to its original budget measures,” – an idea that was shot down by Gonzi himself later through his announcement that government would stick to its budget plan.
The main bone of contention was the government’s latest proposal to span the agreement over four years while the GWU insisted on limiting it to three years.
Another source of disagreement regarded the amount of vacation leave which employees would forfeit over the agreed period.
Government’s last proposal was to get workers to forfeit eight vacation days over four years (originally it was 10) – a proposal which UHM and CMTU agreed with. The GWU insisted that vacation leave forfeited by workers should not be more than five days.
Zarb said government was not accepting to commit itself to give compensation to workers and pensioners if new measures affected their purchasing power, in consultation with unions on the MCESD.
Also, government and GWU disagreed on the amounts that employers would have to fork out for staff training and development.
GWU insisted that wage increases over the next two years should be given in the form of non-taxable cash payments that would be reflected in pensions, 50 per cent of which would be added to the salary in 2007 while the remaining 50 per cent would be added in 2008.
Zarb said that on the other hand, government was giving no guarantee that wage increases would be given as they would depend on the rise in GDP.
Zarb said that despite the outcome, it was a very positive experience to have all the trade unions discussing together on national issues.
“We got to know each other much better through these discussions; the fact that we didn’t agree does not mean we shouldn’t keep meeting to discuss the upcoming national issues. Despite the disagreement we’re still ready to continue discussions within the MCESD,” Zarb said.
Bencini also appealed to unions to remain united on the upcoming reforms.
“I hope we get back to discuss important national issues, particularly pension reform, health and the Chalmers report,” he said.
The GWU will not be taking part in today’s Labour protest, Zarb said.
“We’re not taking part but it’s up to individuals to decide whether to participate in their personal capacity,” Zarb said. “Government should now reflect seriously on the situation and decide what to do.”
After the press conference, Zarb went to celebrate with his union colleagues: not the disagreement with other unions, but his own birthday.
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