Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday replied to a letter sent to him by General Workers Union secretary-general Tony Zarb, following the ILO report on issue of public holidays that fall on a weekend.

Dr Gonzi defended his government’s decision and warned that, if pushed, the government is ready to legislate cuts in the number of public holidays.

However, he added, the ILO report does not push the government to this. The only point of the ILO report, Dr Gonzi said, regards an amendment pushed through by the Labour government in 1975 when it removed nine public holidays. The GWU did not complain about this issue for 30 years: it has only woken up to it some months ago. The government is ready to address the issue, but is not ready to weaken Malta’s productivity and competitivity, he said.

Bondiplus will discuss the issue on Tuesday.