Matthew Vella
The General Workers’ Union has railed against the Malta Council for Arts and Culture for freezing wage costs for prospective security officers and firms at a maximum €6 a hour inclusive of VAT.
The GWU’s Professionals, Finance and Services Section said it “unequivocally condemned” a call for tenders issued by the Malta Council for Arts and Culture, for security services during the Malta Jazz Festival that will be held in mid-July.
The GWU said the call for tenders was “unacceptable” and that it was tantamount to “the exploitation of workers in the security sector.”
“We cannot understand how a government entity such as the council for arts and culture can prolong the already precarious working conditions of employees in the security sector, by issuing the call for tenders with a maximum of €6 an hour, inclusive of VAT,” the union said yesterday.
The GWU said that the maximum price was “impossible for any company in the security sector to offer full-time employment with normal and accepted conditions of work.”
It said such a freezing of wage levels gave rise to even more precarious and part-time jobs, and led to individuals accepting work under inferior conditions.
“The Council’s recent call for tenders puts security companies under undue pressure and it will certainly impact negatively on the conditions of their employees. Besides, the said call for tenders is contrary to, and undermines Minister John Dalli’s directive of a few months ago, instructing that tenders submitted by prospective contractors for government’s contracts has to include details of the conditions of their employees.”
The GWU urged the government to intervene and withdraw the call for tenders as issued by the Malta Council for Arts and Culture and ensure that such tenders will not be issued again in the future.
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