Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1345126
14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 28 FEBRUARY 2021 OPINION AS welfare states go, Malta certainly fills one of the top placings in the world-wide ranking. It all really started with the first Labour administrations of the late 1940s in a war-battered, socially challenged British colony, subsequently strengthened, fine- tuned and upgraded across various dec- ades and historic national events, culmi- nating even in a volte-face on the part of political adversaries who had previously found objection to all new propositions and legislations based on social justice. This may give the impression that po- litical unison and eventual Independence have since provided the complete package. Far from it. Social justice is a domain where no new day is the same as the previous one. New circumstances, challenges and reali- ties continue to demand new strategies for social justice to remain as effective and to reach different sectors of the population, where consideration must be given on dis- ability, affluence, life expectancy, econom- ic independence and general wellbeing. Regular, close contact with these com- munities help us assess what measures are required to make sure the new needs are catered for. It is an ongoing process, one which reflects government's real commit- ment to social justice and wellbeing, par- ticularly at difficult moments such as the current pandemic. We chose to face the issues head-on, in no way succumbing to the temptation of shelving or, even worse, rescinding on our political commitment to social justice. While the past ten years saw consecutive budgets further solidifying Malta's social justice platform – with better pensions, better facilities and services, investment opportunities for the elderly with reduced taxes and the policy of introducing no new taxes – the impact from an ageing popula- tion can hardly be overlooked. This instigates us to make sure that all sectors of Maltese society are sheltered un- der this social umbrella. Our plan to open, within two years, three new homes with- in the community for disabled persons, for example, rightly takes pride of place on this administration's mantle. It is the continuation of a policy started in 2013, but with new vigour and an even stronger commitment to social inclusion and qual- ity of life. Żurrieq, Qrendi and Ħal Kirkop are next in line to have their own community homes as part of this huge government project to address the disability sector. Suffice to say that the government this year is investing €13 million more in this area than it had spent in the past seven years, with Aġenzija Sapport being allocated over €20 million to sustain its unstinting work in support and assistance to disabled persons. It is undoubtedly heartening to see Mal- tese society not only seriously shouldering its responsibilities towards all its various sectors, but also participating in making our social justice targets in an ever-chang- ing world a reality. It is a natural evolution of the very idea that blossomed so many years ago when the future was, at the time, so complex and bleak. Dr Lydia Abela, the Prime Minister's wife, was spot-on recently when she spoke about this government's achievements in social policy and its efforts to eliminate poverty. She was no less accurate in her re- mark that much still remains to be done to ensure the country not only sustains social services, but that these same services are available to everyone. It's the perfect definition of social inclu- sion within a wellbeing framework: we have to be with and for the community all the time, and that is what we intend to do. With and for the community Julia Farrugia-Portelli is minister for inclusion and social wellbing Julia Farrugia-Portelli THE 'gig' and 'platform' economy has grown to become an intrinsic part of our society and yet the benefits and risks of this new way of working are still much debated. Understandably, the employ- ment status of gig workers captures most public attention. Malta still lacks clear regulations on this. A platform's terms and conditions determine the status of its 'users', based on the existing regulatory framework. Although there are instances of plat- forms offering employment contracts, most consider gig workers as self-em- ployed. This is often referred to as 'bogus' self-employment: workers are treated as such for tax, commercial and compa- ny-law purposes, yet remain subject to subordination by and dependence on the contractor or platform. As new forms of work outpace regulation, the key legal challenge is to ensure no workers are left outside of the regulatory framework. Believe it or not this was given the green light by the government itself! The gov- ernment's economic plan in itself gave the ok for thousands of foreigners to be brought to Malta for work over the past years, and closed its eyes to employment of the thousands of foreigners with third parties with inhumane working condi- tions. The result? The thousands of Mal- tese who were already self-employed, got a huge pay-cut and deteriorating work- ing conditions. The cheap labour created a downward pressure on salaries caused by foreign workers, and the government stood by and did nothing... After being continuously brought to the attention of government by the op- position, as ironic as it may seem, this was finally highlighted by finance min- ister Clyde Caruana on the 27 January in the Lufthansa Hangar during the kick-off for a new "employment policy". Caruana, who was actually the architect behind the influx of third-country work- ers while still chairman of Jobsplusm can be quoted stating we will need 10,000 more foreign workers during a debate on TVM's Insights. Thanks to this we have now created a situation where we are completely de- pendent on foreign workers: if they were all to suddenly pick up and leave, society as we know it will collapse. Many of our essential sectors such as transport, hos- pitals and even supermarkets will have serious problems – many will come to a complete halt! Government has created whole sec- tors of work which are dependent on third-country nationals. Why? Well, because the conditions of work wag- es and everything in between were not sufficient for Maltese workers to make a decent living. They were definitely not enough to create a better quality of life for themselves and their loved ones. This brings me to the fact that gig work- ers deal with unique challenges when it comes to working conditions. In addi- tion to the specific hazards entailed by the different types of activities mediated through online labour platforms, there are also risks related to the way gig work is organised, designed and managed. Ad- dressing these is essential, to safeguard working conditions and ensure a socially responsible transition to the new world of work. Even prior to COVID, we were looking a situation where although the economy was said to be "booming", the in-work poverty of this country was on an expo- nential rise. In a report issued by the Eu- ropean Social Policy Network (ESPN) in 2019, the average risk of in-work poverty in Malta in 2017 was significantly high- er for self- employed persons (12.9%) than for employees (4.7%); there was an increase of 13.5% in the number of employed persons (employees and self- employed) who were at risk of in-work poverty. These numbers are indicative of the lack of regulation of the 'gig' and 'plat- form' economies. Let's get one thing straight: these economies are not going anywhere, and we need to understand how they work and how they need to work for us, make them more just and fair and ensure that the social aspect is given as much importance as the eco- nomic aspect. One of the ways to ensure this is done… unionisation. But how do you unionise a gig or platform worker when there are so many platforms that need to be con- sidered; when there are so many differ- ent jobs, work conditions and variables that need to be taken into account? This is definitely one of the many challenges that we have to face. The more time we lose, the worse the situation is getting. Now is the time to identify how we can make these new economic work sectors work to our ad- vantage, identifying how post-COVID, new work employment can benefit us to attract more investment, and create bet- ter jobs of quality should be on the top of the agenda. Lab rats for new world employment Ivan Castillo is a PN candidate and president of the SHPN Ivan Castillo