President of the Republic Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca said that Kitchen Garden staff are enjoying much better conditions of work since the garden was inaugurated back in 2011.

She was addressing a news conference today after it was reported that Kitchen Garden staff were offered irregular contracts comprising low hourly rates irrespective of how many hours one worked, apart from the fact that employees worked on a casual basis.

It was alleged that the workers refused to sign these contracts and the Office of the President withdrew them. It was also claimed that only after some workers said that it was only after they reported the issue to the Industrial Relations Department that the President’s Office had told them the contracts would be revised.

Ms Coleiro Preca highlighted that staff were being paid for any preparatory work, were being given a break and were also being paid overtime.

She said that at the beginning of her presidency, it was discovered that only one out of the 26 Kitchen Garden workers had a contract in hand while the rest were not even registered with the Employment and Training Corporation (ETC). The President said that she wanted to regularise their position while also giving the workers peace of mind.

Ms Coleiro Preca said that the newly revised salaries of the staff are the highest in the five-star hospitality industry, something she said was confirmed by an official of the Department of Industrial Relations.