Back in the 1980s, Labour in Government froze all wage increases for a number of years, and one of its first decisions on its return to power in 1996 was to freeze Malta's application for membership of the European Union. Joseph Muscat has openly declared his admiration for the Mintoffian era and its policies, while he has given his full support to Alfred Sant’s freezing of Malta’s application for EU membership and the consequential economic and political repercussions.

Muscat, as the new Labour Party leader, has now pronounced himself in favour of freezing the minimum wage. During the much hyped Malta Labour Party Congress at Ta’ Qali, he stated that even though it is a “thorny issue”, he felt that he had to solemnly declare that the minimum wage will not be increased, should his party regain government. A Malta Labour Party press release repeated and confirmed the substance of the leader’s statement, as did statements from some of his MPs in the days that followed.

As expected, Muscat’s declaration prompted negative reactions from across the social sphere: from political parties, to unions, NGOs and, of course, the minimum wage-earners themselves. The reaction was justified as this was diametrically opposed to the living wage he had promised in 2010. The concept of the living wage, as proposed by Muscat, should have been a basic income that would have given families the ability to lead a life with a good standard of living, whatever he imagined this might be.

Nonetheless, less than two years down the line, Muscat has retracted on his promise, by omitting the concept from his discourse, and he went a step further by declaring that he will also freeze the minimum wage. Muscat is now trying his best to deflect criticism. In spite of being on tape pronouncing that he will not increase the minimum wage and various media houses reporting his statement, he filed a libel case against the Nationalist Party – as if he can un-communicate what he has previously communicated.

There are those who are insinuating that this is basically the same position the Nationalist Party in Government has taken in recent years. Nothing is further from the truth. Suffice it to say that in the last four years the minimum wage has been increased by €1,000 annually. In addition, all minimum wage earners have been given the chance to earn an extra €25 a week if they opt to attend a training course to improve their skills and if they have children studying at university or other higher education institutions, their stipend would be doubled.

Defrosting Mintoffian economics

The suspicions are that Muscat’s remark was not just a slip of the tongue. Presumably, he thought things out before making such an important declaration. One might, in fact, be tempted to think that, in his fervour for vote-catching, he was trying to please certain elements of industry while completely ignoring and alienating the common worker he had previously so fondly protected.

These suspicions are further fuelled by Edward Scicluna’s suggestion to freeze the minimum wage in an attempt to boost the country’s competitiveness. The aspiring finance minister, should Muscat and Labour win the coming election, wrote this in a report commissioned by the Federation of Industry in 2005. In the same report, he questioned the sustainability of stipends. Recently, in an article Scicluna wrote for The Times, Mintoffian economic policies were applauded as valid in their context. The same Edward Scicluna, a few months back, suggested that there should be a different or a lesser minimum wage for our young people.

It seems that the Malta Labour Party has once again found a valid context for the re-introduction of Mintoffian economic policy: today’s economic situation. Mintoffian economic policy was the politics of wage freeze and cheap labour. It is a policy that is incapable of stimulating economic growth in times of turmoil and is exactly the opposite of what the Nationalist government has done in the last four years.

PN creates jobs, increases wages and reduces taxes

International crisis or not, Malta has the fifth lowest rate of unemployment amongst the 27 EU member states. Today, we have the highest number of employed people ever, as our economy has created thousands of jobs every year. The average wage in Malta has also increased by €2,000 per annum in the last four years. Incentives and tax rebates for the elderly and women have been successful in increasing participation in the labour market. In the meantime, the Nationalist government has reduced taxes, leaving more money in people’s pockets.

Policies from the Ice Age

But how can one expect any better from the Malta Labour Party, when their election manifesto is being prepared by a former Mintoffian minister who is assisted by a whole bunch of politicians from the 1970s and early 1980s who were themselves at the forefront of implementing the Mintoffian economics that led to a wage freeze, higher unemployment and a closed economy that left people with very limited choice on the grocer’s shelve, if any at all?

It is clear that Labour is reverting to its political roots, promoting cheap labour to reduce unemployment. It is evident that they do not know any better.

However, the Mintoffian economics of the 1980s did not work out then and they won’t work today, either. At that time, jobs were created not through investment but through the introduction of different corps under military discipline. ‘Dirghajn il-Maltin’, ‘Izra u Rabbi’, ‘Bahhar u Sewwi’ and similar names remind us of the pathetic approach to job-creation practiced by Mintoff’s Labour and admired by Muscat.

Labour Won’t Work

Labour’s track record on the economy is a total failure. Every time it has returned to government, unemployment has been on the rise. Its present-day promises and advice are equally dangerous. The current party leader and possibly tomorrow’s prime minister has already given us enough bad advice to discard. He was in favour of freezing the application to join the EU and against us joining the European currency. Now he is suggesting we freeze wages.

Labour simply won’t work, their policies are frozen in the past and their actions will ultimately have a negative impact on each and every one of us.