Labour MEP John Attard Montalto yesterday told Federation of Industry President Adrian Bajada that “his vote will continue to be against the removal of the opt-out clause on the Working Time Directive”.
Last week, Dr Attard Montalto was the only Maltese MEP to have abstained from voting on the removal of the clause in an EP vote. He had then explained that he had done so because his parliamentary group, the PES, was against the opt-out clause on the Working Time Directive. Once the vote was clearly in favour of removing the opt-out clause, “the judicious way out was to abstain’, he had said.
Yesterday he reaffirmed his position, saying that the Working Time Directive was still in its initial stage. He however added that Malta’s economic position was not strong enough to implement it.
Dr Attard Montalto said that Maltese middle and low income class would not be able to keep up with their financial commitments if they are not allowed to work overtime and that others would not be given allowances.
Dr Attard Montalto pointed out that the same issue had arisen 12 years ago in the Council of Europe where a resolution was drafted and presented to the European Parliament. He said that at the time, those who did not want to stick by the resolution did not have to.
In yesterday’s meeting, Dr Attard Montalto explained that the Party of European Socialists voted in favour of the directive because it wanted to safeguard workers’ rights. However, he said that the EC always tried to find a compromise on the issue and based its proposals on four pillars. The first, he said, was that the workplace should have a good environment. The second, he said was that workers should have adequate family time and the third should be flexibility, especially in sectors such as tourism. The final pillar, he said was to not erode competitiveness of industry.
Dr Attard Montalto said the removal of the opt-out clause would not generate more jobs. He also spoke of pressure by UK trade unions on its MEPs to vote against the removal of the opt-out clause and a situation in Slovakia whereby potential employees are being made to sign a declaration on hours to be worked before they are given a job.
The FOI yesterday also met Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil.
In a statement covering both meetings, the FOI said they focussed mainly on the debate relating to the Working Time Directive, in particular the opt-out clause.
In his address, FOI president Adrian Bajada stressed that the federation strongly believed that the opt-out clause should not be removed from the Working Time Directive because it enables employers, the workforce and the whole economy to have a sufficient level of flexibility to adapt with the market demands and seasonality patterns, as well as ensuring the current standards of living of all Maltese citizens.