Muscat warns of ‘instability’ if electricity, fuel prices reflect oil market value

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat warned that tying electricity tariffs and fuel prices to the market value of oil, risks creating a “sense of uncertainty and instability” among households and businesses.

The Opposition, the Chamber of Commerce, and the General Retailers and Trader’ Union (GRTU) have called on the government to reduce electricity tariffs so as to reflect the current market value of oil, currently hovering at around $50 per barrel.

“If we had to tie electricity tariffs to the market, then we would have had to increase them last year when oil was expensive,” Muscat told the GWU national conference. “The price of oil can fluctuate heavily overnight, meaning that such a strategy would risk creating a sense of uncertainty amongst families and businesses.”

Muscat reiterated his vision in a trade union council, and called for the GWU and the UHM to “make peace”.

“We need to reach a comprehensive agreement on industrial relations, rather than have different unions at constant loggerheads over worker recognitions,” he said.

He pledged to clamp down on the irregular employment of migrant workers, warning that the situation has created “a slave market at the Marsa roundabout”.

“People will try to sow doubt and question why we want these people to find jobs, but at the end of the day this situation is also having a negative impact on Maltese workers who don’t want to work under the conditions offered to the migrants.”

New GWU boss wants union to be 'social voice in neoliberal world'

The General Workers' Union must be a "social voice in an increasingly neoliberal and globalised world", its new secretary general said.

"The EU and other global institutions must become more open to trade-unionism, and I am convinced that the GWU can influence other countries as well as Malta," Josef Bugeja told the union's national conference. "Together, everything is possible."

Bonnici , who replaces long-standing secretary general Tony Zarb, called on the union to become a more "pro-active" social movement and for all present to become "catalysts for change an discussion".

He announced a study on how union shopstewards can be trained and compensated, and called for further investment in research on how the union can become more "creative and innovative" when negotiating collective agreements.

Bonnici said that employers must recognize that granting better conditions to their employees is a win-win situation.

"We must remind employers that their profit isn't solely thanks to themselves, but thanks to all their employees. We must remind them that workers' salaries are an investment, not a burden. Ultimately, better work conditions lead to increased efficiency, productivity and competitiveness."