19 - 25 October 2000

The right noises

Addressing a public gathering in Balzan last Sunday, Finance Minister John Dalli made a lot of sense when talking about the next budget. Mr Dalli said that there was a need for a change in mentality over tax evasion and that the fact that people made efforts to obtain social services which they were not entitled to must stop once and for all. He also said that Bank of Valletta should remain a Maltese-owned bank but that a strategic partner would most probably become a minority shareholder in the bank, which seems quite a sensible decision.
Mr Dalli was also very forthright about the criticism coming from the General Workers’ Union regarding the budget. He made it clear, and rightly so, that the GWU cannot simply criticise the consultative process leading up to the budget without offering any constructive suggestions itself. In the end, the government has to govern and not the union, and Mr Dalli made this very clear.
From the tone of Mr Dalli’s speech the Finance Minister must be laying the groundwork for a whole revision of the country’s welfare system. We have long argued that this is necessary as part of the country’s efforts to reduce its financial deficit. However, the government must be careful here. It must eliminate as much abuse and waste as possible and it must reduce government expenditure, but it must not remove welfare or help from those really in need. That would be a big mistake, a vote loser and socially unjust.
The government must also be careful not to hurt those middle income people who were so unjustly penalised last year when income tax was raised. Mr Dalli has hinted that taxes will not be increased at the next budget, but politicians always seem to have an answer for everything. After all, despite the Prime Minister’s pledge last year that there would be no such income tax increases, the opposite happened. Yet the Prime Minister still maintains that he kept his word and that all that happened were some adjustments in the tax bands. So, should there be any tax increases, the government must ensure that they are socially just and that they are aimed at those who can really afford them.
Mr Dalli so far has been saying the right things about the next budget. Let us hope we will not be disappointed.

No industrial dispute

The General Workers’ Union has written to all its members in the civil service as well as government and private owned companies and corporations and informed them that they should be in Valletta tomorrow morning at 8.30 am as a show of strength against the government. This protest is to be held as the GWU presents its anti-budget measures petition to the government.
While the union has every right to disagree with last year’s budget measures, it certainly has no right to order its members to go on strike when no industrial dispute exists. In a letter to the management of various companies, the union said it was ordering its members to report late to work “because of a trade dispute the union has with the government” regarding last year’s budget measures. This is not correct. No such trade dispute exists.
The law is certainly not on the side of the General Workers’ Union. A court judgement recently made it clear that the actions by the Union Haddiema Maghqudin at the Malta Freeport in connection with the budget during the Labour administration were abusive and illegal. The same principle surely applies here.
The government has already made it clear, and rightly so, that any civil servant who is absent from work on Friday and chooses instead to participate in the GWU budget protest will have his salary reduced and also be subject to disciplinary action. Companies have also been put in a difficult situation. They certainly cannot afford to have their employees to go on strike simply because the GWU still has not come to terms with the fact – 11 months later – that the budget announced in November 1999 is here to stay.
It is about time that the GWU grows up and acts in a mature way. It should forget about tomorrow’s strike, quietly present its petition to the government and take part in next year’s consultations on the budget.