Concrete proposals on minimum wage increase by mid-February, MCESD chairman says

Members of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD) will be formulating a proposal on the issue of the minimum wage to present to the government in mid-February, MCESD chairman John Bencini has said, following this morning’s council meeting.

Economists Lino Briguglio and Gordon Cordina earlier today presented the findings of two studies commissioned by the council, that explored the need and implications of an increase to the minimum wage. Bencini said that following the meeting, and based on the findings of the studies, the council will be formulating a proposal based on four main points of agreement:

• That an increase in the minimum wage should make use of existing mechanisms
• The increase should be an extraordinary one, that reduces relative poverty among those who are employed
• That it safeguards the competitiveness of vulnerable sectors
• Any increase will be accompanied by complimentary measures to avoid unwanted consequences to the economy

Bencini stressed that the council members strongly agreed that the minimum wage cannot be isolated from other factors affecting the economy and any increase must be considered together with other measures.

Asked by MaltaToday why the decision was taken for the council members not to give individual statements to the media, Bencini said that the decision was taken by the council because it wanted to speak as one, on points of agreement, adding that had the partners given their own statements, they would all have said the same thing.

When it was pointed out that the members had in previous meetings always given individual statements, he reiterated that the decision had been taken by the whole council.

“Once the partners took decision for there to be one statement, it means that the meeting was a productive one and that they are all focusing on the same points,” he said.