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20 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR Matthew Vella MANAGING EDITOR Saviour Balzan Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 OCTOBER 2018 19 October 2008 Karl Chircop laid to rest A large crowd turned out for the funeral Mass praesente cadavere held at the Christ The King Parish Church in Paola for the demise of Labour MP Karl Chircop, 43, who died last Sunday after a brain haemorrhage. Mass was concelebrated at 10am by Mgr Vic- tor Grech, accompanied by a sizeable number of priests, including the parish priests of the six localities which Karl Chircop contested. Next to the coffin stood Karl's wife, Adriana, their four children – Jan, Francesca, Christian and Keith – as well as relatives of the deceased MP and his widow. In attendance for this funeral there were President Edward Fenech Adami and his wife Mary, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and his wife Kate, Speaker Louis Galea accompanied by MPs from both sides of the House, Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat and his wife, Michelle, Labour Deputy leaders Anglu Farrugia and Toni Abela and their wives, members of the party administration led by Secretary-General Jason Micallef, as well as former Labour MPs. Gozo Bishop Mario Grech and Auxiliary Bishop of Malta Annetto Depasquale were also present for the funeral mass. Speaking during the Homily, Grech said how in the past 10 weeks, "we prayed, we hoped, we waited patiently that Karl's situation would improve, but in the end we lost. Had God left us?" he asked. "God has been there during the past 10 weeks and would remain there to help us through this episode and to keep close to our heart the values passed on to us by Karl," the preacher told the congregation. "A man's usefulness is not calculated by the number of years one lives but by his vision of life and by how much love, dedication and commit- ment he places in the mission he is entrusted with," Grech said. "For 19 years of his life Karl was a doctor and for 12 he was an MP. He was a good example of Christianity," he told the gathering. "At the beginning of his career he chose a motto, 'Dejjem Hemm Ghalik' ('Always there for you'), and he fulfilled the motto to the full," Grech said to the applause of those present. At the end of the mass at 11.30 pm, Chircop's coffin was taken outside the Church on four pall-bearers to the sound of "You'll never walk alone," the Liverpool FC hymn, the football team of which the Labour MP was very fond, amid the warm applause of the crowd that thronged the square outside. His coffin was then taken on board a funeral hearse, where the fu- neral proceeded privately. Earlier at 9 am, Chircop's coffin was taken in front of the National Labour Centre in Hamrun, where the Labour Party leadership led by Oppo- sition leader Joseph Muscat paid tribute to the deceased Labour MP where a huge banner with the words "F'mohhna u f'qalbna ghal dejjem" ('In our minds and hearts forever') "Thanks Karl for being part of our experi- ence," Muscat said before the crowd gathered observed a minute's silence to commemorate the deceased MP. The funeral cortege then continued in its pro- cession towards the Paola Parish Church with a rendition of the Winter Moods' song "Mari- gold," of which Chircop was an avid fan, by band front man Ivan Grech. MaltaToday 10 years ago Quote of the Week Society does not exist to boost private profitability Editorial "Does Malta want to be a society where criminals are brought to justice or one where they can roam free?" Scott Griffen, International Press Institute THE Malta Employers' Association this week published its recommendations to government ahead of Budget 2019. Several of the MEA's pro- posals are noteworthy and commendable; the need to develop a sustainable blue economy, for instance, or to phase-out of diesel and petrol vehi- cles in favour of electric vehicles. There are, however, some questionable propos- als, particularly involving three of the associa- tion's main concerns: wage inflation, collective bargaining, and the housing sector. Regarding Malta's wage structure, it has long been argued that wage increases achieved over the years – either through the COLA mechanism, or negotiated privately between employer and employees – have not been enough to keep up with the rising cost of living. The MEA is right to individually identify a number of the inflationary pressures resulting in demands for higher wages: the skyrocketing cost of renting property in Mal- ta, for instance. Its reasons for resisting such demands, however, are harder to justify. The MEA argues that "low value-added sectors which employ thousands of employees are prone to lower profitability margins in order to retain employees." But even if 'profitability margins' are indeed lower for some sectors than others, the fact remains that overall profitability across the board in on the increase. The argument would hold a lot more for times of economic recession, when any change to the profit margin could indeed wipe out entire sec- tors. But businesses today are booming, and it is absurd to argue that – in all but a few sectors – paring down profit-scales by a small margin would result in any form of economic catastro- phe. In most cases it would merely result in a slightly lower annual profit, and a considerably better quality of life for employees. Moreover, the same reasoning also seems to be contradicted by some of the MEA's other propos- als. While fighting to keep national wages as low as possible, the association also seems to ask for protection from competition by the public sector. This concern led the MEA to argue that: "Col- lective bargaining in the public sector is having an impact in the private sector, as evidenced in the drain of employees who have migrated to the public sector – at times at lower wage rates – over the past eighteen months." On that basis, the MEA proposes that "rep- resentatives from the private sector [should be] involved in collective bargaining in the public sector. Alternatively, any package negotiated in the public sector should be discussed with pri- vate sector representatives before given the green light." This argument overlooks the fact that govern- ment is also an employer, placing it in direct competition with the private sector in this regard. The MEA cannot defend the principle of compe- tition – the fulcrum of the so-called 'free-market' model – when applied to its own members, and yet undermine the same principle when applied to the public sector. Put simply, the MEA's request is tantamount to that of a union, representing an unrelated class of worker, insisting on being rep- resented in negotiations between private employ- ers, and employees who are not represented by that union. It is an absurd thing to even suggest. More worrying, however, is the declared aim of this proposal. The MEA seems to want to curb public salaries so as to minimise demands by private sector employees for higher wages. This would only limit wage increases in both private and public sectors: making Malta a place where an increasingly underpaid population must struggle with exponentially rising costs… at a time when the private sector is riding the crest of an eco- nomic wave. A similar mentality underpins some of its other suggestions: for instance, the argument that 'smaller social housing units' would en- courage people to move out of social housing, where they can be preyed upon by today's for- bidding rental market. Inherent in both these proposals is the view that 'employees' in general – and by extension, society as a whole – exist merely to provide a source of revenue for pri- vate businesses. Nor is this mentality limited only to private employers. Government, too, occasionally gives that impression with its 'business-friendly' man- tra. A recent example was the White Paper on rent reform. Here government has focused more on propos- als designed to give more stability to tenants and landlords registering contracts. But – and this argument is excluding social housing per se – government cannot forget that it too can play a rather large part in the domestic housing sector, by slowing down the inflationary values of hous- ing. The big issue here is not about social housing tenements, but whether the Maltese government is ready to offer good quality accommodation for people who are being priced out of the market – not because of their salaries or inability to get on the property ladder, but simply because the market is getting too expensive and outstripping salary increases. It is unconscionable to respond to this reality by simply pushing more people into the private rental market. Only a player like the Maltese government is capable of providing good qual- ity housing, without any profit motives. That is where its true responsibility lies. It is also the heart of a debate where the government can take on a private sector that is only motivated by prof- it, not people.