The UHM – Voice of the Workers is proposing the setting up of a number of strategic hubs which include underground parking, park and ride shuttle bus systems, in order to alleviate Malta’s traffic problems.

Detailing the union’s pre-budget proposals in an exclusive interview with The Malta Independent on Sunday, UHM CEO Josef Vella touched upon a number of issues ranging from traffic, to the country’s population, to how collective bargaining can be strengthened.

Vella said that traffic is not something which can be solved with one proposal, but says that, if taken seriously, the union’s proposal can bring a significant difference.

The proposal is for the establishment of hubs in strategic zones in the country which would hold underground parking and a park-and-ride system for commuters to be able to leave their cars there and travel to work or anywhere else they may need to.

Above ground, the hubs would include everyday establishments or outlets, such as childcare centres or grocery stores, so that the amount of car trips a person may need to do in a day is reduced, and also open spaces for people to enjoy.

The union is proposing that these hubs would be financed through public-private partnerships and through fines which the Planning Authority imposes on developments which do not provide enough parking spaces in their plans.

Vella said that the project is an investment both from an economic perspective, as it can reduce car trips and thereby reduce the need for the expansion of the road network, and from a quality of life perspective because it reduces traffic emissions and the sheer time spent sitting in traffic.

Also on transport, the transition to electric cars is one of the point which has been most emphasised by the government in its quest for carbon neutrality – but here Vella said that the UHM has some concerns, particularly when it comes to safety.

“We’ve seen videos abroad which show that when an electric car catches fire, there is nothing you can effectively do to extinguish it and the interventions you can make are limited… there are videos where firefighters simply evacuate the area rather than attempt to extinguish the fire,” he said.

Vella said that the union is not expecting the Maltese government to come up with the solution, but points out that the matter should be raised at European fora and that “technology should not be imposed with there being a solution for a problem.”

He questioned what would happen is an electric vehicle had to catch fire on the Gozo Channel ferry, or in a tunnel.  He further questioned the environmental impact which dumping the used batteries of these cars may have in the future.

Vella however pointed out that there is a very clear plus in the lesser emissions that these vehicles emit, noting that clean air is extremely important for Malta.

“We see the benefits, but not without concern,” he added.

Population: UHM calls for study to determine Malta’s carrying capacity

Proposals relating to the country’s population – one of the most discussed topics both in the political arena and by people on the ground – are a fundamental part of the UHM’s pre-budget document.

“This isn’t something strictly for the PN or PL, but for Maltese policy as a whole: we need to determine what country we want.  We need to understand what the capacity of this country is.  It’s useless thinking that the sky is the limit as it is not the case,” Vella said.

He said that we need to establish what Malta’s carrying capacity is, including tourists, so that labour market policies and other policies adapted to that capacity can follow.

“There are no switches in the economy… we cannot turn the switch on our quantity-based economy off today and turn on the switch with a new economic vision tomorrow morning… it doesn’t work like that,” he said.

Vella advocated for a new vision being drawn up and implemented parallel to the phasing out of the current economic vision, noting that the country cannot afford blips in its economy.

Other proposals related to population include that there should be a licence for those who rent property to foreign workers so that there can be controls on the maximum number of people who can live in such properties.

The union also said that the practice that the same place should be rented to different people at different times of the day should be prohibited, noting that there are some who are renting a bed to more than one person – meaning that the bed is essentially shared on a roster basis.

The topic of enforcement comes up more than once in the pre-budget document, particularly in relation to the workplace. 

Asked about the enforcement capacity of various government entities, as detailed during the public inquiry into the death of Jean Paul Sofia, Vella said that he doesn’t think that there are enough human resources to do proper enforcement.

He admitted though that it is next to impossible to have somebody to enforce – for example – the employment contract of every worker in Malta, but technological systems, particularly today with Artificial Intelligence, do exist.

These systems can be used to create just in time systems which look at the legality of certain things and set off alarms to the authorities where necessary.

The Cost of Living Allowance: UHM reiterates call for COLA not to be taxed

A proposal which is being reiterated is that the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) given to workers is not taxed, with Vella noting that the COLA is essentially a refund for money which people have already paid out of pocket to make up for inflation.

“When we pay money, obviously we would have spent it on services and products which we would have paid taxes on.  When you give a refund for money which you’ve already spent; you cannot then re-tax a person on them, as they’ve already paid the taxes on them,” Vella said.

He noted that more social partners, and even the Nationalist Party, have come on board with this proposal, adding that accepting it would be helping both workers and employers who would at least have peace of mind that the COLA they are paying is all going towards elevating the worker’s conditions.

Another proposal in relation to the COLA is that the country’s tax bands should increase by at least the COLA amount, with Vella saying that this is a way of encouraging the taxpayer and increasing their purchasing power.

“When you adjust the tax band parameters, what happens is that the worker pays less taxes, but many times this is reflected in an increase in VAT – which is a tax as well.  This is because leaving the worker with more money – particularly in this day and age – results in the purchase of more products and services which the government benefits from as well and keeps the economic wheel turning,” Vella said.

The UHM is also saying that the relativity mechanism which was worked out in 2023 after the COLA in that year came in at an unprecedented level of €9.90 should be worked again for 2024, when the COLA is once again expected to be high.

The minimum wage and collective bargaining

A major proposal which the UHM is making is that there should be revision in how the minimum wage is calculated in order to ascertain that the minimum wage itself is adequate for a person to keep up with their basic needs.

Vella described the matter as a “delicate topic” and one where “everyone agrees in principle that the need for the minimum wage to be increased is there, but the devil is in the detail when it comes to deciding through which methodology it should be increased.”

He said that the biggest challenge is to help those who are most vulnerable but without creating market distortion.

It is here, he said, that the UHM’s proposal for those in low income brackets to be legally obliged to be a member of a union can help, observing that no union ever negotiates a collective agreement for the minimum wage.

“In a natural way through the bargaining process we improve the worker’s conditions, but we maintain relativity, thereby not distorting the market,” he said.

“So for me the best way to deal with the minimum wage is for these people to be organised in unions and them to then get collective agreements through which their situation can be improved,” he added.

The UHM’s pre-budget document – and Vella himself – however makes proposals to combat two matters which they say are weakening the power of collective bargaining.

The first of those is a call for the eradication of a practice known as outsourcing, particularly within the public sector.

Vella explained that this is a phenomenon where government entities are using contractors to increase their human resources rather than employing people directly through public channels.

“This is creating a major injustice,” Vella said.

“We have people in the public service with conditions born out of collective agreements, but then others employed through a contractor who get inferior conditions.  We have departed from the principle of equal pay for job of equal value: if you and I are in the same workplace and we do the same work of the same value, how can we justify that because I have a collective agreement I get one salary, and you get less because you’re employed through a contractor,” he questioned. 

“That’s not right and it’s something which is eroding the power of collective bargaining,” he added.

Vella said that there are entities which are allowing staff employed under the collective agreement to leave due to resignations or retirements and are then replacing them with contracted workers, meaning that eventually there will be nobody to take advantage of the collective agreements.

“This is an injustice and the principle of equal pay for job of equal value must be followed, irrespective of which channel you are employed through,” he said.

The second threat which the UHM is proposing to deal with is so-called ‘free riders.’

These are workers who benefit from a collective agreement reached by a union, but who decide to not pay the membership to the union on the basis that others have paid the membership and obtained the conditions on their behalf.

He described this as “selfishness”, particularly within the context that their union membership only costs €42 and that the membership of other unions is not all that much higher if it is.

In this sense, the UHM is proposing that the government should create a fund which these people who do not wish to be a member of a particular union, even if they benefit from a collective agreement, can pay the equivalent of a membership fee into – a fund which will then be used to support the work of the unions.

Vella said that this is one of the ways that the country can follow the EU’s direction of strengthening the power of collective bargaining.