Malta’s trade unions have expressed concern at a ruling by the European Court of Justice, which may have considerable repercussions on workers’ rights and conditions all over Europe, including Malta.
If a Maltese company posts its workers in a European Union member state where conditions of employment, including salaries, are better than those in Malta, the company would not have to respect those conditions. Conversely, a company from an EU country like Bulgaria or Romania – where salaries are lower than ours – could post its workers to Malta, without having to abide by Maltese working conditions.
This is the result of a controversial ruling by the European Court in favour of a Polish contractor who was building a prison in Germany, in what is known as the “Ruffert Case”.
The German Authority had awarded a contract for the building of the prison on the condition that both the major contractor and its sub-contractor had to pay their workers the minimum provided for in a collective agreement which applied to building work in the German public sector.
But the Polish sub-contractor paid wages at a rate lower than that provided for in the German collective agreement.
The German authority terminated the contract and tried to enforce a penalty clause. But the Polish sub-contractor claimed that the relevant principality law was incompatible with the freedom to provide services as expressed in Article 49 of the EC Treaty.
In its ruling, the ECJ found that a German Public Authority was not entitled to include in a public works contract a clause requiring contractors and sub-contractors from other member states to pay rates in accordance with German collective agreements in the building sector.
The Ruffert case has rung alarm bells across the continent: even in Malta, where the two major trade unions warn against possible exploitation as a result.
According to UHM desk officer Dr Romina Bartolo, the ECJ decision could give rise to abuse of workers and social dumping, since companies may choose to designate contractors who pay their employees remuneration which is less than the minimum paid to workers in the same category in the country where such services are carried out.
“This decision goes against the balance between the social and economic aims of the European Union, which should be in place in order to have a truly just scenario for workers,” Bartolo said.
According to the General Workers Union PRO Charles Vella this decision could legitimate the exploitation of workers posted from one EU country to the other.
“As an active member of the European Trade Union Council, GWU is foursquare behind the European trade union movement in opposing this decision.”
The General Workers Union was the first union to propose that bidders for public tenders should respect established working conditions. “It is a known fact that when companies make very cheap bids they do so at the cost of workers’ conditions.”
Vella cited tenders awarded to security companies for a sum which does not even enable these companies to pay a minimum wage for their workers.
The GWU welcomed Minister’s John Dalli’s declaration that government contracts would include social clauses to preclude such practices. The GWU also insists that wherever it has representation, foreign and local workers must be given the same working conditions.
Left wing organisation Zminijietna, which was the first to raise this issue in Malta, pointed out that in justification of its ruling, the European Court of Justice quoted Article 49 of the Lisbon Treaty, which prohibits any restriction to freedom to provide services.
“This shows that through its new Treaty, the EU is moving away from its social model, as employers can shift workers from one country to another and pay them lower wages then those established by law in the countries to which they are shifted,” Zminijietna spokesperson Michael Briguglio told MaltaToday.

jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt