This is completely unfounded, said the association, since it is common knowledge that for years the MEA has claimed that Malta has an excessive number of public holidays. This is also documented in the report issued by the MEA last May: Generating Productive Employment – A National Priority, which included a reduction in public holidays as one of the many recommendations to restore Malta’s competitiveness.

Reporter Natalino Fenech did not even have the decency to contact the MEA before making such false assertions, said the association. Instead, he chose to rely on second-hand information which, under the circumstances, is both unethical and unprofessional. The “divergent views between employers” to which he refers exist only in his imagination.

It is disappointing that a serious newspaper such as The Times opts to stoop to such sensationalistic tactics without verifying the facts, the MEA said. Whoever is feeding such distorted information to Mr Fenech clearly does not have the national interest at heart, otherwise he or she would understand that such irresponsible actions only serve to diminish the probability of reaching agreement between the social partners.