The Communist Party of Malta condemns the comments made by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi a few days ago during an interview on a radio programme, where he publicly stated that the Nationalist government will not guarantee an alternative employment to those workers who will lose their job as part of Air Malta’s structural reform. The Communist Party calls this statement as a ‘betrayal’ to Air Malta employees. 

The government is indicating that the workers will be the ones to carry the burden for the financial crisis of Air Malta. The fact that the CEO is being paid €500,000 to carry out a structural reform is offensive to all those workers whose jobs are threatened. This same offence is also targeted at all those workers who are on a minimum wage income in Malta.

Workers must realise that the party in government is there to safeguard the capitalist class, and if there is a situation in which the working class find itself in an industrial dispute, the government will not take their side. The Communist Party appeals to the workers to seek unity among themselves. Where there is unity there is strength.

The Communist Party reiterates that it is the government’s responsibility to guarantee the right for an alternative employment within the public or state sector. The right for a job has nothing to do with ‘state subsidies’.

Victor Degiovanni

Secretary

Communist Party of Malta