Moviment Graffitti reiterates its long-standing position that the minimum wage threshold should be raised in order to make work pay and ensure a good quality of life to those people employed in precarious conditions.

Moviment Graffitti also voices its concern regarding the position upheld by the two major parties and some unions on this issue.

One of the major difficulties that Maltese people face is that of low wages, combined with a high and rapid rise in the cost of living. The minimum wage in Malta is miserable when compared to that of other EU countries, and surely not sufficient to adequately maintain the livelihood and quality of life of people. The time has come for a revision of the minimum wage by raising its threshold in a substantial and adequate manner.

This dismal state of affairs is all the more evident in the present day scenario in view of the current worldwide economic crisis. This crisis is a direct result of a capitalist system where the natural resources as well as means of production and financial assets are heavily controlled by a limited number of people who are solely interested in reaping the most profit possible. Furthermore, it seems that the difficulties and hardships arising from the crisis have to be brunt fully and solely by the workers, particularly those who are already employed in precarious conditions.

A large number of workers are increasingly being employed only for a few months, without knowing whether their contract will be renewed or not after the lapse of this period. It is increasingly becoming a common trend that the worker is merely seen by those in power as an object that you use, exploit and then easily discard. And although the financial crisis has shown the peril of placing the whole economy in private hands, a number of governments around the world, including the Maltese government, are still going through with their privatisation processes, which continue to concentrate economic and political power in the hands of private companies that are just interested in reaping profit.

In Malta, certain categories of workers, particularly vulnerable groups, face increased levels of exploitation. In such situations, workers are being employed on a part-time basis when they are effectively working on a full-time basis, so as to be denied their due rights. It also seems that it has become in vogue that employers oblige their workers to register as self-employed, when in actual practice they should not be registered as such.

The global economic system has resulted in an exploitative profit-making situation at the expense of workers and the natural environment.

The root of this deterioration is observed to directly lie within the current political order, based on a global capitalist system which for a number of past years has related huge inequalities by taking care of the interests of a small number of rich and powerful individuals.

Moviment Graffitti as a result feels that it is truly shameful that rather than fighting for the amelioration of workers’ rights, both the two main political parties as well as some unions are conspiring together against the protection of the rights, dignity and quality of life of people.

■ Mary Grace Vella

Moviment Graffitti