A week ago, we carried a news item by the Chamber of Commerce which stated that 'labour cost figures must include all factors contributing to non-wage expenses'.

Although this statement did not state who the Chamber was replying to, there was a release by Eurostat which in turn had let, at least locally, to a statement by Alfred Sant MEP and a leader in our sister daily paper.

The Eurostat figures said that in 13 years, the average wage of Maltese workers had increased by €4.50. In 2015, the Maltese worker got €8.30 an hour while in 2017 the average wage had risen to €12.80. This was the least increase registered in Europe. While, as said, the Maltese worker got an average of €12.80 an hour, the average wage in the EU was €23.10 and in the Euro-zone was €26.

This means that Maltese workers are getting €10.30 an hour less than their counterparts in the EU and €14.10 an hour less than their counterparts in the Euro-zone.

Moreover, in a reportage on Illum on 15 April, three worker leaders in Malta expressed their opinion.

Caritas Malta director Leonid McKay said not all Maltese workers are benefitting from the economic growth registered in Malta.

UHM Voice of the Workers Secretary General Josef Vella claimed that with so many foreign workers coming to work in Malta certain sectors have remained with low wages.

And GWU Secretary General Joseph Bugeja added that there were some wages that have increased far more than others.

These three worker representatives, in their various ways, confirmed the Eurostat findings and did not come up with the Chamber's logic.

The Chamber argued that, according to the Labour Force Survey conducted by the National Statistics Office, the contributions paid on the average private sector salary amounted to 12.5%, considerably higher than the 6.7% of the total cost given by Eurostat.

But, as The Times remarked, even at 12.5%, non-wage labour costs are still low compared with those in other EU countries. In fact, according to the Eurostat figures, they are the second-lowest, after those in Luxembourg (11.9%).

As the same paper concludes, these figures raise critical issues. They suggest that key economic sectors are either depending on very low costs for their sustainability and survival, or, alternatively, it may well be argued that they are exploiting labour. Deeper analysis and discussion is needed. Exploited employees are not likely to be loyal and committed workers.