AD on precarious work: 'Government should blacklist itself'

Alternattiva Demokratika Chairman Arnold Cassola said that government should blacklist itself for offering lowly wages to the employees of companies it was issuing tenders to. Claiming that “precarious work is still here to haunt us”, Cassola said government should serve as an example and said that it is no surprise, therefore, that some employers pay their employees ‘miserly’ rates.

“The government has blacklisted two companies but in reality it should actually blacklist itself since government is issuing tenders offering €5.78 an hour as labour payment,” he said. “No doubt the tender winners end up paying their employees a miserly €4.14 an hour, or around that.”

Flanked by deputy chairman Carmel Cacopardo and the party’s secretary general Ralph Cassar, Cassola was speaking at a press conference held outside Mater Dei on the occasion of workers’ day. Citing the wage that Transport Malta drivers earn, when compared to that of drivers employed with private companies, Cassola claimed that “unequal pay for equal work is now also being experienced”.

“Also, clerks in Mater Dei employed by Group 4 are getting paid much less then government clerks doing the same work in the same hospitals,” he said. “Such injustices cannot continue and decent salaries for all must be assured.”

On his part, Cacopardo described how these inequalities went against AD’s principles. “As a party that believes in social justice and social inequality, we believe that there is much more to be done to ensure a more accessible and just labour market,” he said.

“Despite some effort by the Government to fight precarious employment, there are still workers who do not enjoy decent working conditions,” he said. Cacopardo explained that there were some groups that were more vulnerable than others, and consequently, were more likely to be exploited due to a number of factors such as their level of education, their sexual orientation, skin colour, and gender.

“More efforts have to be made to ensure that the laws are enforced,” he said. “Once more, we insist on the importance of revising the minimum wage.”

Meanwhile, AD’s spokesperson on social issues Robert Callus expressed the party’s satisfaction that government would soon be introducing free childcare schemes to ensure that the labour market was more accessible to parents with young children. “AD has been harping on the need for policies which facilitate a work-life balance for many years,” he said. “However, we still need to work harder to ensure that the labour market truly gives equal opportunities to all,” citing women, foreigners, and women as prime examples of persons who still faced challenges in this regard.

Acknowledging that government had launched schemes to ensure that more young people were in education, training or employment, AD said that inactivity posed a bigger problem than unemployment. “The rate of youth unemployment is double the national average,” Callus said. “Apart from the problem of early school leavers, the problem of underemployment is also being felt in Malta.”

“Therefore, we have to work harder to encourage more people to improve their skills and education but also to ensure that they will find a matching job after they finish their studies,” he added.