Dr Spiteri Bailey’s research forms part of a thesis he presented when reading for an LLD degree in the United Kingdom.

Dr Galea praised Dr Spiteri Bailey’s efforts and the UHM for sponsoring the research.

He said his ministry was responsible for providing workers with information on employment locally and in other member-states.

Dr Spiteri Bailey also presented a booklet for Maltese workers and employment agencies.

On his part, Dr Spiteri Bailey thanked the UHM for its support and said that although the course was demanding and required a lot of sacrifice, in the end he was satisfied with the result.

He encouraged people to exploit the opportunities offered by membership, adding that his case proved that Maltese can make a success abroad.

He said that in his thesis he had chosen to focus on part-time and fixed contract employment, adding that they are becoming common forms of employment in Malta.

Introducing the booklet, entitled Drittijiet Tal-Haddiema Maltin u Ghawdxin Fl-Unjoni Ewropea (Maltese and Gozitan Workers’ Rights in the European Union), Dr Spiteri Bailey said it was a user-friendly guide for workers.

He said the booklet highlighted a number of workers’ rights related to part-time and fixed contract employment in the EU.

UHM secretary general Gejtu Vella praised Dr Spiteri Bailey and said that when he had approached the UHM for support, the union gladly sponsored the studies.

Mr Vella said that in the changing world we are living in, knowledge is the key to success. He said we need to be trained professionally to meet the challenges and exploit the opportunities ahead.

Dr Bailey presented his thesis together with a copy of the booklet to the minister, the UHM and the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions, which was also present at the launch.

Mirroring the minister’s comments, CMTU president Alfred Buhagiar called for a wide distribution of the booklet adding that it should even be given to schools.

He said schools should be given more information about workers’ rights and trade unionism, and complained that while church schools had started to do something in this sense, the government had no similar programmes.