Unions at loggerheads over political crisis’ effects

Members of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD) have expressed different reactions to this morning's two-hour meeting of the MCESD.

This morning, the MCESD met with the Minister for Public Dialogue Chris Said on insistence of several unions following the political crisis which afflicted the party in government.

Speaking to MaltaToday, GWU secretary general Tony Zarb said, "the current instability caused by the political crisis is negatively affecting the economy". He said that employers were holding back collective agreements, while local and foreign investors were being highly cautious.

"Investors have adopted a wait-and-see attitude to see how the political crisis will play out," Zarb said.

He added that self-employed workers, such as owners of clothes shops and grocers have experienced a slowdown in their sales.

Zarb went on to say that in light of employers' unions who "are giving the impression that there are no problems", the GWU has asked them to accept the union's collective agreements and workers' call for higher wages.

However, the General Retailers and Traders' Union (GRTU), the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions (CMTU) and the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry expressed different sentiments.

GRTU president Paul Abela said the traders' union doesn't believe that the current political situation was affecting the Maltese economy. Abela hailed government's results and said that the positive results in the rates of unemployment and immediate sell-out of government's stock are proof of this.

"If there's someone who doesn't like these results it's their problem," Abela said. Asked whether self-employed were indeed experiencing a slowdown, he said that it was GRTU "the voice of self-employed and not workers' unions".

Abela added that it was regular for self-employed to expect a slowdown during February, a quiet month for all businesses.

CMTU President William Portelli said that it was not in the merits of MCESD to tackle political situations, unless that situation was having a direct impact on the economy. 

"We don't believe the political difficulties are having a negative impact on the economy. Malta is still going strong, especially when we compare our economic situation with others," Portelli said.

Portelli reiterated that the MCESD's concerns were to see that the Malta's economy is faring well: "Political problems must be solved within parliament. Our first and foremost concern is the economy."

Echoing Portelli's comments, Chamber President Tancred Tabone said that the worse thing to do at a time when the Eurozone was facing such a critical time, was to blow things out of context.

"Problems within the political arena should never trickle into the economy.  So far, the economy is doing well. Let's not blow the situation out of context - otherwise we'll dig ourselves in a hole were there will be no winners but only losers," Tabone warned.

Tabone said that talking about a crisis when "there is no crisis" only scares away potential investors.

Meanwhile, MCESD chairman Sonny Portelli confirmed that MCESD will meet Finance Minister Tonio Fenech next week. The meeting is expected to concentrate on social and economic aspects, as Fenech will brief the council over the latest developments, both locally and within the Eurozone.