General Workers’ Union secretary general Tony Zarb yesterday warned that more jobs were on the line after the 706 redundancies announced earlier this week.

Mr Zarb was delivering his annual address to the GWU’s pensioners’ group. He said the current situation was not good for many workers. “Workers expect more because they were made so many promises. I also appeal to the government to tap into the European Globalisation Fund so as to offer assistance to those who have lost their jobs,” he said.

He said that this fund’s purpose was tailor made as a solution because it was put in place to help workers who lose their job at factories precisely due to employers relocating to where it is cheap to produce goods.

A total of 706 workers have been laid off in the last few days, he said. “These are only the ones we know about becaue there are others who might have escaped our attention because they are not members,” he said.

He also appealed to the government to show solidarity by trying to negotiate a cooldown period with banks so as to help alleviate the burden of debts. “Many of them have mortgages to pay and they now have no income,” he said.

He also pointed the finger at those who promised there would be jobs in abundance in Malta, saying: “Those statements were a mere smokescreen to gain power. They made many beautiful promises and they tricked them and that is why workers are now rebelling,” he said.

Mr Zarb also made reference to a speech he recently delivered at the International Labour Organisation where he spoke about the exploitation of part time employees in Malta and that employers were threatening to leave the country in an effort to weaken employees’ conditions.