Trade unions today pressed home the need for transparency in government contracts, and the need for large contracts to be made public, during their proposals for the upcoming budget.

The UHM - Voice of the Workers, the Confederation of Malta Trade Union and the Malta Police Association held a joint press conference on their budgetary proposals, where they all backed each others' recommendations.

CMTU President Martin Balzan said that due diligence by the Auditor General should occur before contracts are signed and financed by government, that transparency in government contracts is extremely important, and that all contracts must be deposited in Parliament for public scrutiny.

The CMTU urged the revision of the Cost of Living Adjustment so that it would reflect the current life consumption of the average Maltese family.

Turning to the Healthcare system, the CMTU said that foreign residents who are not entitled to free healthcare should have this indicated on their ID card. They also called for more out of hospital palliative care, and a debate about the best way to provide this.

The CMTU spoke of the need of more specialists in the cancer field, and that should foreign oncologists need to be recruited, then finance for such an endeavour should be made available.

The CMTU does not agree with the "lend, lease and operate" model chosen by the government when it comes to the privatisation of healthcare, "where a completely inexperienced company, whose owners cannot be identified due to, reportedly, a company in the British Virgin Islands  having been asked to operate three hospitals".

"We are asking for complete transparency in this regard and remain unconvinced of the credentials of the supposed operator".

While not opposed to PPPs, they argued that they "support the British model where the element of 'giving a social service to all' prevails on profit in the provision of essential public health care".

Malta Police Association Secretary General Inspector Robert Vella spoke of the need for police wages to reflect their work hours. "Those in the police force work 46 hour weeks, yet earn the same as civil workers, who work 40-hour-weeks".

The inspector also called for the need of a police union to be recognised. "Government have been coming up with excuses, and today, no police union has yet been recognised and thus able to go and discuss proposals with government. it's like having a dangling carrot which one cannot reach. Government is excluding a sector of the workforce, the police. As such, discussions on conditions cannot occur".

The MPA also argued that a new sectoral agreement need to be negotiated with government.

Turning to service pensions, the MPA argued that they are not increased according to the cost of living , and called for this to change. They are also asking for an On Call Allowance, a Duty Abroad Allowance and a Continuous Professional Development Allowance. They are also asking for the creation of a child care centre within the police headquarters.

The UHM spoke against precarious work. CEO Josef Vella urged government to use technology so that workers' basic rights established in law be enforced. The Union recommended the creation of a web portal, where one can fill out contracts online which would already contain worker basic rights, etc.

He also called for an updated household budgetary survey, arguing that while economic growth stands at 3.7%, inflation remained relatively low. He said that the inflation rate is based on the last such survey which occurred in 2008. He urged government to conclude the 2015 Household Budgetary Survey. As such, Mr Vella concluded, it affects union negotiations when the COLA is included in wage contract negotiations.

Turning to the housing sector, Mr Vella said that Malta is seeing a large number of foreigners coming over to work. As such, property prices rose, but now rent prices are also rising. The UHM urged government to do something about this problem, given that there are families which cannot cope. "Government must differentiate between families with low income who cannot cope, and those who are paying rents for workers while they are in Malta". He argued that the union does not agree with a national ceiling for rent, however called for an evaluation of properties on the market so that a policy in response to the growing foreign worker population.

Mr Vella also spoke about cooperatives, where a number of professionals can come together and form a cooperative, and therefore apply for Private-Public Partnerships.

The UHM urged that a discussion on the introduction of a living wage begin.

As for the construction sector, the UHM supports it, however notes than not enough consideration is being given to the environment and infrastructure.

The Union also spoke about transport, explaining that regardless of the increase in public transport passengers, the number of cars on the road has remained the same. As such, the Union urged government to keep working on the issue to help reduce the number of cars on the road.

Turning to sick leave, the UHM suggests that workers be able to use sick leave from the previous year in the case of serious illness of their children.

The Union also spoke of pensions, and argued that the situation some pensioners find themselves in, being that those born before 1951 are receiving a lower pension than those born after, needs to be amended. They also urged the introduction of second pillar pensions.

As for Gozo, they spoke of the need of more accessibility and more studies on permanent connectivity.