UĦM says planning, including that of surplus, should be ‘long-term’

● Union presents budget proposals

UĦM Voice of the Workers is calling for long-term economic planning, warning that the current economic surplus was coming from a short-term plan.

CEO Josef Vella was addressing a press conference during which the union outlined its budget proposals.

Asked whether he believed the surplus to be sustainable, Vella said this was coming from a short-term plan. “I am not saying that it is bad, but long-term plans should also be discussed in the meantime.”

Listing a few hypothetical situations where factors driving the surplus could potentially go wrong, he asked whether the country has alternatives if “something goes wrong.”

He mentioned a few hypothetical situations that could hit the surplus, including if Malta starts to receive less funding from the EU because of an economic boom, if the passport scheme comes to an end or tax legislation driven by the European Union changes policies.

“It is good to make hay while the sun shines, but the government also needs to save for a rainy day,” he said. “Yes, the surplus should keep increasing, but with a long-term economic plan.”

Risk of poverty on the rise

Vella said that although poverty was being said to have decreased, figures showed that “the risk of poverty is on the rise.” “When put in the same basket as social exclusion, then yes, a decrease is seen, but the risk of poverty is actually increasing,” he said, adding that there had been an increase – albeit slight – over the past year.

Budget proposals

One of UĦM Voice of the Workers’ budget proposals is to create better parking facilities through public-private partnerships. The facilities would be along the main roads, with the hope of reducing traffic, and increasing “efficient use of public transport and other types of transport.”

Rather than moving public holidays that fall on weekends to weekdays, the UĦM is proposing financial compensation for those days, varying between €150 and €200 per annum. This would cost the government €12.7 million per year, according to the UĦM CEO.

Vella also outlined proposals to implement property incentives to increase care and awareness for the environment, questioning whether the environment was really being taken into consideration.

The union is also proposing a tax exemption on the annual cost of living allowance (COLA), introducing free lunch at schools to decrease obesity and buy more time for the parents, as well as providing free internet to those families who are at risk of poverty.

“Nowadays, the internet has become an essential need,” Vella said, emphasising that it would be helpful in education.

Another proposal by the union linked to education is the improvement of examination centres, along with bringing Matsec examinations closer to students’ respective localities.

For a third consecutive year, the UĦM is also pushing for the creation of an online platform to register contracts of employment in order to “safeguard employees’ basic rights.”

It also called for a debate on introducing second-pillar pensions, creating vision, regulating crowdfunding, and creating cooperatives in the health sector.