The Malta Labour Party is preparing plans to give the country, its workers and their families a breath of fresh air, ensuring that the workers do not carry more burdens than they should, Labour leader Alfred Sant said yesterday.

Speaking at a social activity in Qawra, Dr Sant said that with the excuse of increasing Malta's competitiveness, the government was cutting the working conditions of the Maltese workers and eroding their rights. He said this was not fair and neither was it fair that who is responsible for the economic problems the country is facing now turns to the workers asking them to make sacrifices.

Dr Sant praised the General Workers’ Union and the other unions who participated in Monday's mass demonstration in the streets of Valletta.

He said the MLP will continue giving these unions its support in their quest to protect workers' rights from measures which are adversely affecting them.

He said the MLP has to continue showing that it is an alternative government because the Nationalist Party is now running out of ideas after so long in government.

Dr Sant said the crisis the country was facing was brought about by former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami and Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi. He said that though Dr Gonzi continues to deny that there is no crisis in Malta, even the unions are now admitting that the country was in fact facing a crisis.

He added that the mistakes of successive Nationalist governments are now becoming increasingly obvious and the MLP’s past warnings are now being proved right.

Dr Sant added the MLP is there to make a difference and will continue working to indeed make the difference in Malta. The party has already shown that it can make a difference at a locality level through its various local councils and will continue to strengthen its success by extending it on the national level.