Labour Party spokesman for industry Chris Agius said it was unfortunate that another factory was closing down, with the loss of 570 jobs. He was referring to the relocation of VF Malta and recalled that another 240 employees had lost their jobs at the factory in 2004.

Though there were jobs that depended on labour costs, competitiveness was not linked only to wages. There were many in the manufacturing industry who were complaining of government-induced costs.

Mr Agius said the Labour Party had long been calling for genuine and regular consultation with investors, to establish what was hurting Malta’s competitiveness. And proposals on which there was agreement that they needed to be implemented, should be put into effect, not remain on paper.

He called on the government to commit itself to help those who had found themselves without a job, through no fault of their own.

The Nationalist Party’s Solidarjeta Haddiema also expressed solidarity with the workers, who, it said, faced a difficult time. It would be unacceptable, it added, to weaken conditions of work to keep such factories operating in Malta. According to Eurostat, said Solidarjeta Haddiema, only 1.5 per cent of workers in Malta were on the minimum wage, which meant that Malta had the second lowest number of workers on the minimum earnings.

It went on to appeal to the government, constituted bodies and trade unions to put their heads together to see how to help the workers.

Also expressing solidarity was the Labour Party’s Forum Zghazagh Laburisti which also pointed out that VF Malta was one of many factories that had closed down under Lawrence Gonzi’s government.

All the workers faced a difficult situation, it said, but many of the young ones also had to service bank loans on property, which were drawing higher interest rates.

The country, said FZL, truly needed a new beginning.