UHM - Voice of the Workers CEO Josef Vella took to Facebook on Wednesday to express outrage in the wake of a statement made recently by Prime Minister Robert Abela.

Abela had, on Monday evening said: "A question I am putting forward is this, is everyone showing that commitment?" He said warned everyone in government structures that they could not expect a cushy job.  "We are either there to be of service for the people, or we are there to serve the people when it comes to legitimate needs (...) I have heard too many episodes of people who when it comes to what is truly legitimate, where the state by right must adhere to what is being requested, would say they weren't contacted back. We are there to serve people."

His statements were taken to be hitting out at civil servants over the recent election result, which saw the Labour Party's vote gap to the Nationalist Party reduce to just 8,400 votes.

Vella, said that for civil servants and the UHM, it was unheard of that out of all pressing issues highlighted during and leading up to the June elections, that the civil service would be mentioned as one of them, more so following the celebration of the public service just a month ago.

The civil servants and the UHM were all amazed that Abela put the blame on civil servants, Vella said. He said that, "This is a surreal situation" since he expected Abela to mention many reasons leading to the loss of majority, but he "never dreamed" that Abela would single out civil servants as the problem.

Vella said that within the civil service structures, there are people who are being more careful how to their duties and responsibilities. He said that it must be understood that two permanent secretaries, Alfred Camilleri and Joseph Rapa' ended up facing criminal accusations in court, it is for this reason that civil servants are being more careful and following "legitimate" orders. 

Vella said that in this situation, Abela must say mea culpa and it certainly wasn't caused by civil servants. He added that this problem came from the politicians who put excessive pressure on civil servants who now must go through all this.

Vella said that one is also amazed when, up until a month ago, there was the public expo, that cost €700,000, and was a celebration of the public service and excellence of government workers. He went on to question what happened a month later following such expenditure and invitations for the whole population, since what was good has become "weight" and, furthermore, government workers are now garnering the responsibility for an electoral loss.

Regarding Abela's reference to "cushy jobs", Vella said that the prime minister didn't say to whom he was referring and that he doesn't think he was referring to hospital workers or the police. He went on to ask Abela to "illuminate us" on who has these cushy jobs, mentioning, for example, jobs given pre-election, to people who lack meritocracy or who don't contribute anything to the workplace.

Once again, Vella was amazed how, pre-elections, the UHM signed dozens of collective agreements and said that Abela cannot say that there was someone who was an obstacle to this process. He said that the UHM believes that its first duty is to respond to the needs of its members, and for that reason they signed and closed the agreements. He added that he never heard neither Abela, who presided over certain collective agreements, nor any of his ministers, tell the civil servants present that they have cushy jobs.

Vella said that he expected Abela to mention other reasons why he lost so many votes, mentioning the hospitals deal as an example.

Vella said that in light of all this, "it is altogether surreal" that Abela points to government workers as the problem. He went on to promise government workers that they are present to stop anyone from taking them for a ride or from steamrolling over them. "We were here, we are here and we will stay here to protect you and your reputation", Vella promised.