Tuesday, 18th November 2008 - 16:25CET
Video: Unions report positive meeting with the PM
'We made sure we went to the meeting with one voice' - Bencini
Trade union representatives said this afternoon that they were optimistic that a solution could be found in their dispute with the government on the utility tariffs.
GWU General Secretary Tony Zarb, UHM General Secretary Gejtu Vella and MUT president John Bencini in comments after a meeting with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said they had presented nine proposals which the government would now consider.
The proposals, they said, would not mean going back to the former tariffs position, but they were based on social justice and would not unduly burden households.
Dr Gonzi this morning also had a meeting with a delegation from the GRTU, following which director-general Vince Farrugia also said he expected a positive outcome.
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re investments.....remember all the german companies who invested in malta??
Re tourism....the war ended 20 years before and the tourists coming to malta were mostly brits and this bcoz they had a 50 pound limit imposed on them by their govt.
No mr gatt i was not one of the chosen ones who, like today for that matter, get the good, well-paid jobs !! i worked hard for what i have today but facts cannot be denied.
btw. i too wouldn't have minded staying at the savoy for three months waiting to be summoned when it pleased our colonial masters!!
Regarding the troops, they stayed over an extra 5 years.
In the 60ties, PN govts. started our tourism industry which at the time was zilg, even because it was so soon after world war 2.
As regards to having to wait 3 months at the Savoy, the whole point here is that Dr. Borg Olivier intelligently and patiently brought us independence in '64. With all his aggression and I know it all attitude, Mintoff was leading us into a communist regime type nation. Without independence, Malta could have never become a Republic. Western countries were taking their industrial investment elsewhere since we were getting too close to communism. Our closest allies were Iron Curtain countries, China, Korea, Libya and so on. We even had Col. Gaddafi addressing a meeting in Cospicua. And what about honouring dictator Ceascescu. Mintoff and KMB have the audacity to call themselves defenders of neutrality. Those were hard times Mr. Saliba for most of us, but not for the chosen ones. Where you?
re military corps etc. in the 'golden' sixties under a borg olivier admin the only option was emigration!!
re independence...of course the brits preferred dealing with borg olivier. can you imagine mintoff waiting for 3 months at the savoy hotel waiting for their highnesses to find time to speak with him?? mintoff might have been more aggressive in his dealings with foreigners but malta was the end beneficiary!!!!
eg ...the different night/day tariff that minister fenech said is already in place and the day after he said we need new meters !!! the fact remains that 20 years of inefficiency at enemalta under a PN govt, and the last years under PM2 gatt, were a total financial flop. deny this if you can!!
Before the elections they were saying that only Dr. Gonzi was representing the PN in all the activities. Now that Dr. Gatt together with the PM is showing his determination to bring this country where it belongs, Dr. Muscat and his parrots are saying that we have 2 PMs.
PN betrayed us to the eu.
It always wanted Malta to be under foreign rule.
First they wanted Malta to be under Italy.
Then they wanted Malta to be the colony of the eu.
That amounts to a betrayal of Malta and the Maltese people.
It did not achieve independence because it fought for it because it only wanted a Dominion Status for Malta, but independence was given by the British Government to the Nationalist Government because the British Government knew what a hard and able negotiator Mintoff was as evidenced by the later renegotiation of the defence agreement and he would have got much better conditions for Malta than the Nationalist Government.
J Busuttil
We always got a lot more wage increases during Mintoff's Government than we ever got from the PN Governments
A Mangion
Which one? PM1 or PM2? Or none of them?
If this was a MLP government, the PN apologists would have call this a U-TRUN. But with Gonzi having no choice in the matter to make a U-TURN because everybody is against the tariffs it's GREAT
Can you tell me what proposals did Joseph Muscat put forward in his budget speach inregards to the electricity and water tariffs.
Please do not make me laugh and mention the so called proposals that some have been in practice for the last TWENTY YEARS.
The country doesn't have money, from your post I presume you were refering to the Maltese public. And yet for instance record number of Maltese continue to go abroad on holidays.
If the PN all it did was bursting the Maltese kitty as you claim, Malta wouldn't had been accepted in the EURO Zone. So take you BS somewhere else
To be exactly the Prime Minister said that the Unions have choosen Theatrics over discussion. The Prime Minister was always open for talks, and never said that he won't meet.
In regards to history, To bad that the GWU didn't do the same in 1997. At That time there was no consultations at all.
The above should be the principles of social justice which are to be applied for various situations such as:
Low salaried workers/Pensioners should be protected.
Households providing sterling service such as caring for the old and sick or foster caring services.
Similar tariffs as those applied to households , are to be applied for garages not connected to the owners' residences , but are being used for the the same domestic end-use.
Gozitan students who study and live in Malta.
I could go on and on but since the buck always stops on the salaried worker, at least he does not need to be nearly choked to death.
Recession effects are not on the horizon anymore. GRTU is saying business is bad.
So if we are moving to a new phase in the payment for certain services, do we need all this drama? Can the government adopt a rational non-confrontional attitude from the beginning?
Is this still The Government of Dialogue??
The Prime Minister ??? calling the unions theatrics, then calling a meeting with them. "Hawwadni ha nifhem " May I ask a very important question : Why Dr Gatt and Tonio Fenech wasnt` invited? All in all it is nothing than a BIG ` U TURN`
Still this whole sorry mess whether over or not has exposed the PN to justified criticism from all corners, it has shown that the "mighty" PN does make mistakes and huge ones too and never seems to learn the lesson that the electorate should not be taken with a pinch of salt! This saga has turned the PN into what Labour was in 1997---arrogant, abrasive, socially unjust and with "no boxxla socjali" in the eyes of thousands of voters in the street! This issue has thrown the government into a conundrum of contradictions and PR disasters and it is going to take very long for people like me to trust these people again!!
Trust, like Rome, was never built in a day!!
Quo Vadis PN????
which is it exactly. the unions have made gonzipn see common sense.
and no, no matter how much you wish it, the 'privilegjata' will not give 'gambetti'.
maybe a bloody nose??
I'm now once more proud of my voting decision.
Well done all!
the right to organise a protest
the right to voice one's opinion
a PM (Gonzi) that listens to the above and react
Proud to be here
well done the unions, Dr jsoeph Muscat
well done the maltese people
very well done Dr Gonzi
change? yes we can
joe the plumber
You and your buddies had 20 years to deafet the P.N in Power !!
Can you specify why you said NOW ??
Day dreaming is unheathy !!!
my friend,let's hope the Privilegjata won't harm Malta and no Gambetti for the outcome of this dispute.
You stated that were it not for last week's protests the PM wouldn't have met with the unions. You're not correct! The PM also met Mr Farrugia of GRTU and, as far as I know, he did not take part in the union's protest. This is what happens in a democratic country like ours. Protests, arguments, discussions etc., What is important is the end result. Our PM is on record as a person most capable of reaching an agreement at the right moment.
What i can never understan is why there are people that go to any measure to defend the actions of their preffered party in goverment. This goes for labour supporters & Nationalist suppoerters both. Personally , for those who might try and put me down, i am a labour supporter but unlike many i have no problem critising the party and / or the leadership as i have done neumerous times on these pages in the past. I suppose what i really want to say is , think about your pockets and not of those who are laeding you by the nose.Meta ma ikollox hadd mu ha igibulek shun!!
To all of you that think that the PM is going to revise the tariffs just because he sat at a table with the unions , or that he has had a vhange of heart , are in my opinion very wrong. I have said from day one of the budget that this is a game. Like when you want to sell a car. You want 5000 Euros for it but ask for 5500. The buyer would think that he saved 500 Euros when in fact he was going to be ripped off 500 Euros. It has allready happened last week when the revised tariffs for cars was announced.
Can one really belive that the Gov. didn't allready know that there were many famillies who had old marinas and the like who were going to pay more in tax than what the car is worth?
Either that or no assesment was undertaken to really know what kind of impact any rise in taxes would effect the man in the street especially those with minimun wages.
to 'Finanzi fis-sod' first you have to have money which at the moment this country dosnt seem to have due to the quantity of taxes,tariffs ,vats etc etc that the pn is taking from the people to balance the great financial defecit this country have ever seen.
I agree with you (well almost) - the country needs dialogue and not arrogant imposition as exemplified by PM No.2 Austin Gatt or the up and coming know-it-all Tonio Fenech. And yes it's good to have a Prime Minister who finally sees the light and admits his mistakes. And thumbs up to all the Unions for putting pressure on the government to restart the dialogue and, hopefully, to accept to budge from its intransigence.
and it's not the first time we've seen PM1 saying one thing and PM2 saying the opposite. and we know who got his way!!
If you study Malta's economy well you will see that by contrast to other countries we are truly one of the few countries with the strongest ship in this big international storm. THAT is how you calculate and understand 'Finanzi fis-sod'...but of course if Peter Camilleri decided to only here Alfred Sants version of the Finanzi fis-sod issue then I dont blame him for misinterpreting the phrase.
@ M. Farrugia
Overpowering each other is only a tradition that takes place within the MLP itself. The PN is cleverer than that by seeking to work together towards the benefit of the country rather than massacre each other.
Its a pity that you are being fed arguments such as having 2 prime ministers by the MLP leaders. For a moment we felt relieved that Muscat would bring a new wave of politics towards MLP and their supporters, but it seems that Muscat has failed in this first biggest promise.
Another thing, let us hope that PM2 does not contradict PM1 again!
As for the protests ..if it were not for last week's protests the PM would not have accepted to meet the unions in the first place ..
We wouldn't have dragged with this issue as far.
Will Gonzi overpower Gatt? Still to be seen.
It’s high time that unions do propose and not just grumble.