Worker’s Day was celebrated across the whole world yesterday, not less in Malta where the two major political parties organised activities to mark this occasion.

Over the past years, the Nationalist Party has moved away from public manifestations, preferring to go deeper into workers’ issues through a national conference on the subject.

On the other hand, the Malta Labour Party chose to hold a demonstration in Valletta, which was different from the ones held in the past largely because May Day came at a time when the party is still to elect its new leader. In fact, it was acting leader Charles Mangion who addressed those present, while the five contenders for the post of party leader – and the others contesting for the two posts of deputy leader – did their best to be seen in order to try to gain as much support as possible.

Worker’s Day is an international celebration of the achievements made by workers over the years. It celebrates improved working conditions obtained through the hard work of unions and the establishment of what are known as workers’ rights.

It is evident that, in the developed world, workers today enjoy better conditions than their predecessors did and than employees in developing nations do at the moment. The unions are still there to defend these rights and there are times when they have to act to see that they are not trampled upon, but it must be admitted that the situation has improved considerably when it is compared to 25 or 50 years ago.

But Worker’s Day is an occasion to reflect on other matters that concern the worker. While it is positive that wages continue to go up and that the conditions of work continue to improve, at the same time it must be said that workers, apart from rights, also have duties.

This is sometimes a bone of contention between employers and employees – because, on the one hand, employers must see that the workers have a suitable environment in which they work, and on the other hand the workers must work to the best of their abilities and carry out the work that they are assigned diligently and within established timeframes.

There are many workers who produce their best and give their maximum each and every day, but there are others who do not and who are always seeking ways and means how to “cheat” their employer.

There are workers who enjoy their job and perhaps prefer it to their free time, and are always eager to learn new skills and ambitious enough to try to earn promotions that would lead to better wages.

For others a job could be like any other and they are not committed to what they do, and spend most of the time at work thinking of what they will be doing in the evening.

There are workers who realise that they must do their part for their company to do better, produce more and register more profits, and this ultimately for their own benefit too. There are others who think that it is only employers who benefit from their work and therefore are simply not interested in giving a full day's work, thinking that every minute of work lost is money earned for doing nothing.

And this is where trade unions must do a better job. They are of course right in seeking better wages and conditions of work for their members, but at the same time they must instill a stronger sense of responsibility and reliability among the workers they represent. At the end of the day, the better a company performs, the better the chance that wages and working conditions can be improved.