Archbishop Mgr Paul Cremona OP yesterday hailed trade unions for safeguarding workers’ rights and ensuring that their dignity, as people and as workers, is protected.

Speaking during a visit to the headquarters of the Union Haddiema Maghqudin, where he met the UHM national council, Archbishop Cremona said that work was part of the dignity of a person, who was created in God’s image. He said trade unions were very important because workers should be protected at all times.

He said the Church was grateful to trade unions for their contribution to improving workers’ rights over the years, and he appealed to trade unions to continue seeing the image of God in every person they dealt with and also see these people in the context of the family of which they formed part.

UHM secretary-general Gejtu Vella said that, apart from protecting workers, the union also worked in the national interest, on issues that had an effect on the country’s well-being. He said the union worked hard to ensure social justice.

Mr Vella said that the UHM was a catalyst for change and was never frightened of change. The union, he said, tried to strike the right balance in everything it did, and the Church must be a model, guiding people to make the right choices.

He said the UHM wanted to deliver a positive message and help workers and pensioners and their families in a modern country such as Malta, a member of the European Union.