The rise in temperature during the summer months should ring the alarm bells of the Health and Safety Authority, trade unions and the Malta Employers’ Association to take the necessary steps to protect workers from the excessive heat and exposure to the sun. Workers employed in the construction industry, roads construction and beach workers should qualify for such protection.      

The Communist Party of Malta believes that measures should be adopted on a national level to introduce the necessary changes in the working regulations with regards to working hours and practices, so that the amount of hours the worker is exposed to directly in the sun is reduced. 

Presently, a campaign is going on in the United States to protect workers in the agricultural sector. The majority of these workers are Mexican immigrants. Apart from the very low wage that they are paid, a number of these workers during these last years died of dehydration, after long hours working in direct sunlight. Although working conditions in Malta may not be so excessive, work obligation for long hours in the sun should not be allowed.

The half-day working hours concept being adopted in the public sector should be extended to the private sector.

■ Victor Degiovanni

Secretary

Communist Party of Malta