The General Workers’ Union’s next battle against precarious work will be in the food and hospitality sector, where abuses are taking place, secretary general Tony Zarb said this morning.

After highlighting precarious work issues in the health sector, the GWU will continue its name and shame campaign in other sectors, he said while addressing a union activity at the Workers’ Memorial Building in Valletta.

He said that precarious work practices exist in a number of hotels and restaurants, including top class establishments.

One particular owner, he said, was not paying employees for the first two days of their work, then forces them to buy a uniform and then dismisses them after two weeks. This is a cycle that means the employer is saving on two days’ wages every 14 days, he said, apart from the costs incurred by the employees to buy uniforms just for two weeks.

Mr Zarb said that he will announce his future at the union congress in a few weeks’ time.