Maltese workers have a smaller share of economic prosperity today than in 2009

Workers in two-thirds of EU member states, Malta included, are receiving a smaller share of their country’s GDP than they were at the beginning of the decade, official figures show.

European Commission statistics show wage share – a key indicator of inequality  – has fallen in 18 member states between 2010 and 2019, the European Trade Union Confederation said.

Ireland saw the biggest fall in the percentage of GDP paid out in wages at 19%*, ahead of Croatia (11), Cyprus (6), Portugal (5) and Malta (5).

The ETUC said the figures show that working people are receiving a smaller share of the economic prosperity they help create, and presented them during the European Commission’s consultation on fair minimum wages.

In 2017, the Central Bank’s annual review suggested that in 2015, the construction and real estate industry’s €138 million wage bill rose by €5.1 million. But the rapid growth in revenues for construction was reflected in the availability of a growing pool of foreign workers who are being employed at lower wages – the fourth consecutive year in which average salaries fell.

“[It] has put downward pressure on the average wage in the construction sector, with compensation per employee in this sector declining for the fourth consecutive year. The construction sector, moreover, benefited from lower energy costs following the cut in electricity tariffs for businesses during the year. The resulting savings boosted profitability relative to wages,” the Central Bank said.

Foreign workers account for 18% of the workforce in the real estate sector, and for 13% of that in the construction sector, as against 10% in the overall economy.

So while in 2015, the average employee pocketed a total of €22,421 in gross earnings, a construction worker was taking €15,476 in construction while the real estate worker was taking €18,064.

ETUC Deputy General Secretary Esther Lynch said the data shows that people in most member states are receiving a smaller share of the national wealth. “Ursula von der Leyen has pledged that the new European Commission will create an ‘economy that works for people’, which is a laudable goal that we fully support. But the Commission’s figures show that people in most member states are receiving a smaller share of the wealth they work hard to generate than they were at the start of the decade.

“So von der Leyen will need to bring forward game changing proposals which drive up wages across Europe to deliver on her pledge. Raising statutory minimum wages in the countries where they exist would be a start, but workers also need the right to join a trade union and bargain collectively in order to get a genuinely fair share.”