Coronavirus: After widely criticised economic rescue package, government meets social partners

Unions and employer organisations held meetings at Castille with Robert Abela and Silvio Schembri on Friday to discuss the economic impact of the coronavirus.

The government said in a statement late on Friday that the Prime Minister, the Economy Ministry and head of OPM secretariat, Clyde Caruana held meetings with the Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of SMEs, the MHRA, the Malta Employers’ Association, the GWU, the UĦM, and trade union federations, FORUM and CMTU.

On Wednesday, the government announced an economic rescue package to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus. However, the measures have been widely criticised as not being enough to avoid widespread job losses.

The meetings were described by the government as “cordial”, during which the current situation was discussed “openly”.

“While open dialogue with all parties will continue, it was agreed that more meetings will be held to ensure that everyone does their best to help the country come out of this global challenge,” the statement said.