Moviment Graffitti marked May Day with a protest held yesterday afternoon in front of the Infrastructure, Transport and Communications Ministry in Valletta, and expressed concern about the government’s privatisation policy.

The past few years have seen the privatisation of a number of state entities such as Maltacom, Malta International Airport, Sea Malta and Maltapost. “If these companies were not yielding the desired profits,” Moviment Graffitti said, “the solution should not have been privatisation but more efficient management”.

Privatisation also creates instability because private capital can easily be transferred to another country which provides better conditions for these companies to operate profitably, it said.

Moviment Graffitti said that the government’s priority should be to ensure social justice rather than protecting the interests of capital. It is workers’ rights which should be strengthened and not the country’s political economy.

Moviment Graffitti believes that the issue of competitiveness should not be used as an excuse to deprive workers of their rights, as happened with the removal of vacation leave in lieu of public holidays falling on weekends.

“Salary schemes of Maltese workers should be revised,” the movement said, “since the current salaries do not reflect the continuous rise in the cost of living”. Many families find it difficult “to make ends meet” especially if they earn minimum wages. Some are even constrained to work longer hours to the detriment of their physical and mental well-being as well as their family relations.

Moviment Graffitti also expressed concern regarding a number of other issues related to work.

“Although statistics show a figure of around nine per cent self-employed workers,” it said, “there are those who are being urged to register as self-employed when in practice they are working as employees.” Consequently they would not be entitled to certain rights and benefits granted to employees.

Not enough is being done to curb abuses by employers who take on workers unofficially, the pressure group said. Although figures suggest that unemployment has declined, they also reveal that the number of those whose principal employment is part-time is on the rise.