Government should back its pro-maternity leave extension claims with action, says Labour
If government truly is in favour of the European proposal to extend maternity leave, it should back up its claims with action, says Labour spokesperson on the family Justyne Caruana.
Caruana hit out at parliamentary secretary Chris Said, insisting that he was being misleading when he said, in government’s name, that he is in favour of the extension when this is not the case.
Caruana said that if it were the case, government would have showed this through action, such as voting in favour of the “important” maternity leave extension in the European forums where it was being discussed.
“Government however remains perpetually and at every turn expressed itself against the extension, and hindered the proposal at every stage,” Caruana said.
She also said that it was the Labour Party that first introduced the concept of maternity leave, referring also to studies that determined that maternity leave would bring long-term benefits and should be considered an investment.
Caruana slammed what she described as “word games” by the government and challenged the government to take action to back up its claims that it supports the maternity leave extension proposal.
