The statement issued by the government last Thursday with regard to the “no extra leave for public holidays on weekends” issue has left the social partners with a last chance to reach a consensus on a social pact.

The government announced its intentions to go ahead with what it had said in the budget, that is to implement its decision not to have extra days’ leave added to the amount of vacation leave when public holidays fall on a weekend.

It said that once no social pact had been reached, it had to shoulder its responsibility and take “practical and concrete” measures to improve the country’s competitiveness by increasing production days. This it did by proposing the above measure in the budget for 2005.

The government added that it was ready to amend the law on National Feasts and Public Holidays (Chapter 252 of the Laws of Malta) by making provisions covering cases where public holidays fall at weekends. The amendment will be presented as an additional modification to the bill of law that will implement the budget measures, which has already been tabled in parliament.

Yet, at the end of the statement, the government left the door open for the social partners, who have thereby been given a last chance to react before the amendments to the law are actually passed in parliament.

In this latter part, the government said it would in the country’s best interest if the social partners – unions, employers and the government itself – could come to an agreement on the so-called social pact. If such an agreement is concluded, the government would be prepared to revise this measure according to the agreement reached, provided that the measures would be effective and in the national interest.

Naturally, the employers and the unions had a different reaction to the above. While the Malta Employers Association expressed its satisfaction, saying that the measure will help the country’s productivity, the unions are still very much against its implementation because, they say, it will eat away at conditions for which workers have fought and won in the past.

It therefore seems that the unions are the ones who will have the full responsibility for the outcome of this issue. If they are prepared to sit around the negotiating table in a bid to find common ground on this social pact – which would cover much more than the public holidays falling at weekends – then there is the chance of a solution being found in the best interests of all.

Failing this, the government will have no other option but to take the bull by the horns and implement the decisions it has already made.

The unions must realise – as The Malta Independent has already had occasion to remark – that the country cannot move forward unless everyone pulls together. This newspaper has already pointed out that, with 38 days off from work every year – 24 days’ vacation leave and another 14 public holidays – the country is losing two months of production from each and every worker.

This is not to mention the sick leave to which all workers are entitled. While in many cases the taking of sick leave is justified, there are also many others who abuse the system, and use their sick leave to gain additional vacation leave.

The unions must understand that, in order to get back on track, the country has to take what they consider to be hard measures. Sacrificing a few days’ leave is not going to harm anybody, and yet these few extra days of work will make the country more competitive because there will be increased productivity.