The Prime Minister should be concerned that Maltese workers are not being compensated either for their productivity, or for price rises, so that they are seeing their standard of living deteriorating, Labour MP Gavin Gulia, party spokesman for the economy and the self-employed said.

During 20 years of Nationalist government, he added, the worker in Malta had been reduced to working long hours at wages that are substantially lower than in Europe.

Dr Gulia said party leader Joseph Muscat had shown at the national conference on the cost of living that wages and prices have to be linked to productivity. Eurostat figures show that Maltese wages are at 44 per cent of the EU’s average, and productivity is double that, at 88 per cent of the EU average. This means that employers are getting value for their money and that wages in Malta have not kept pace with productivity.

Job creation, Dr Gulia said, remains a priority but, unlike Dr Gonzi, they could not see the worker as a machine and his solution for maintaining his standard of living cannot be longer hours of work at inferior wages.