Yes, it’s true, the summer half-days in government departments come up for discussion every year. But it is not, as the Union Haddiema Maghqudin described it, a non-issue. On the contrary, it is a serious matter.

I say it is serious because, in this day and age, I believe that this situation has dragged on for far too long. It should have been sorted out many years ago and yet, backed by trade unions, public servants continue to insist that they have some divine right to enjoy their afternoons at the beach while the rest of the working population is still on the go.

The argument brought up each time the subject is debated is that public servants work an extra 45 minutes each day to make up for the free afternoons for three and a half months in summer. I know that. The point is, however, whether they should still be working those extra 45 minutes during the winter schedule.

I use the term “working” those extra 45 minutes loosely, because I do not believe that, generally speaking, public servants arrive at the office on time and leave at 5.15pm. But let’s not go into that.

The exigencies of the public service have changed, but their working timetable has not changed with them. Today, the system favours the employees, and not the clients. And it can’t go on like this.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has said that the situation was already tackled, in part, in the last collective agreement, which was signed five years ago. Well, the time has now come for the situation to be tackled in full.

Negotiations are in hand on the renewal of this collective agreement, which expires at the end of this year. If the government really believes that the interests of the nation come before the interests of the party, then it should make it clear that this is the last year of the summer half-days system.

The Nationalist Party will probably lose votes – yes, unfortunately, there are still people who are narrow-minded – but by eliminating summer half-days it would gain credibility and would be doing the right thing for the country.

The unions argue that only 33 per cent of public service employees enjoy free afternoons in summer. Well, those 33 per cent have to come in line with the rest, and work hours that are more consonant with the demands of today’s economic climate, not that of 40 years ago.

The elimination of the half-days system should be part and parcel of a more comprehensive reform of the working hours of the public service. This reform is necessary for a number of reasons.

First of all, the public service is often needed by the private sector, and we cannot continue to have a situation when the private sector is hampered because government departments close at 1.30pm in summer.

Secondly, government employees on half-days but who work in the afternoons in summer are being paid overtime, and this comes at a cost. Public expenses need to be curtailed, not increased.

Thirdly, with so many government offices now in constant link with Brussels because of European Union demands, it is not right that they have different working hours. If Brussels wakes up at 9am, should we have government offices opening two hours earlier?

Fourthly, today offices are equipped with air-conditioning and the summer heat is no longer a valid excuse. Of course, those employees who work out of doors should be treated differently for health and safety reasons.

To wrap up, the half-days system is now outdated and the government has another chance to eliminate it. I hope this time it has the courage to go all the way.

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There is someone else who seems to think that he has some divine right.

This is John Bencini and his federation of unions known as Forum who believe that they should sit on the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development.

Mr Bencini already had a seat on the MCESD – at the time when the Malta Union of Teachers that he heads was part of the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions. But the MUT crossed swords with the CMTU, abandoned ship and joined forces with Forum, who are not represented at MCESD level.

Well, Mr Bencini should have thought about his MCESD seat before he pulled the MUT out of the CMTU – without even referring the matter to the MUT members for discussion, that is.

Mr Bencini’s own allies – the General Workers’ Union, with whom Forum marched up and down Republic Street twice at the height of the utility tariffs crisis earlier this year – have turned their backs to him too. The only way that Forum can have a seat on the MCESD is for the GWU to give up one of its own, but Tony Zarb has said no.

The fact that Forum is out of the MCESD means that teachers, who have a great responsibility on their shoulders – that of raising future generations – have no voice on the council. But that voice was lost only because of Mr Bencini’s decision to leave the CMTU without the consent of the MUT’s members.

Forum’s claims that they have a right to be there hold no water. If all unions and organisations had to have their own representative, then MCESD meetings would need to be held at the Ta’ Qali fairs and convention centre.

And there’s another thing. The fact that the Labour Party is pushing for Forum to have a voice on the MCESD makes it pretty obvious that the unions that make up the federation lean towards the PL. Otherwise, the PL would have kept its mouth shut.

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