Friday, February 16, 2007, 00:00
Last updated: about 18 years ago
It is unacceptable that as of 2007, at least 20 percent of school graduates do not have a school leaving certificate. These school graduates have been sentenced to become unskilled workers, Malta Employers Association (MEA) vice president Lawrence Mizzi said yesterday.
Mr Mizzi was speaking at a business breakfast organized by the Malta Employers' Association on the European Commission's green document 'Modernizing labor law to meet the challenges of the 21st century'.
General Labor Union General Secretary Tony Zabu, Hadiema Magudin Union General Secretary Gejutu Bera and various employers were present.
Mizzi said there was a huge shortage of skilled workers in Malta and that at least one in five children left secondary school without basic skills such as Maltese, maths and English. .
He added that if approved, implementing the Green Paper would be costly and questioned whether taxpayers and employers would be prepared to shoulder these costs.
Mizzi also said that many redundant workers are reluctant to undergo retraining and are using all sorts of excuses to avoid it, including using sick certificates.
Outlining the Green Paper, MEA Executive Director Joe Farrugia said one of the big concerns employers have is that potential changes to the law could result in additional costs.
“It's hard to keep up with change, and increased regulation will impose additional costs on employers,” Farrugia said.
He pointed out that labor laws alone are not sufficient to achieve labor-related objectives such as freedom of movement and safer workplaces.
Ms Farrugia asked whether introducing flexible measures into the law would be enough to attract women back into the workforce.
“Many other factors, cultural and social, may be keeping women at home,” he said.
He added that the social welfare system was a disincentive to work and more incentives needed to be introduced to encourage people to return to work.
Mr Farrugia said the green text needed to take into account the individual needs of member states.
Sue Vella, CEO of the Employment and Training Corporation (ETC), said ETC's role was to make employment more attractive and help people find work.
He said those who remained on the employment register for several months would be put into full-time work or removed from the list.
She pointed out that ETC offers a variety of grants and schemes for those who wish to continue their studies.
Labor relations lawyer Andrew Borg Cardona said there are too many regulations and it's time for “deregulation.”
“It's time to take a closer look at the law and question it from an employer's perspective,” said Dr. Borg Cardona. “Do we need all these rules and regulations?”
Dr. Borg-Cardona proposes in his paper the “Flexibility” model (How EU and national-level labor laws can increase labor market flexibility while improving worker safety). ) was skeptical of its success.
“You can't have two concepts in the same word. In the real world, they don't match,” he said.
“Those who enforce regulations need to consider what industries and businesses need. But employees also need to be protected, and they can do so through ongoing training,” Borg said. Dr. Cardona said.
Mr Noel Vella, Director of the Industrial and Employment Relations Department, considered the Green Paper useful as it gave Malta an opportunity to assess the situation, and that it was important to start at the local level and work upwards.
“Malta has to look after its own interests. We have certain features that are ideal for a labor economy, such as collective agreements, and it is important that we do not lose these,” said Dr Vella. Ta.
