Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1498412
NEWS 9 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 3 MAY 2023 what is now a significant seg- ment of the working class? Moreover, Abela relies on an economic model which partly depends on tax revenue from a greater pool of workers gen- erate wealth which can be re- distributed in tax rebates, and thus partly mitigate the impact of rising prices. But this raises the question; is Abela's social model depend- ent on an economic model whose hidden underbelly de- fies the very socialist values it stands for? Since foreign workers don't vote, Abela does not feel the same urgency to address this issue in the same way as he has reacted to criticism on envi- ronmental and planning issues. For example, faced with in- ternal criticism on planning decisions, Abela had to give his critics a pound of flesh, by announcing a tinkering of planning laws aimed at halting works on projects which are still being appealed. But Abela has not reacted to a speech by former leader Al- fred Sant in his address to the party's general conference two weeks ago did not mince his words on the economy's de- pendence on low-paid workers. "We must not forget the for- eign and Maltese workers on a miserable pay. It is a truth that our economy is dependent on low wages. This injustice must be fixed. No one should be for- gotten," Sant had said. And while Abela ignored the proverbial elephant in his room the issue was addressed by Op- position leader Bernard Grech. Weaponising foreigners But in doing so Grech walked on a tightrope between justi- fied moral outrage at the ex- ploitation of these workers and a cheap attempt to weaponize the presence of these workers by depicting it as a threat to the native working class. Grech said that "it's unac- ceptable to lose our soul for greed and money" and that he wants "a just country" but on the other hand he warns that "whenever the Maltese work- er tries to fight for a higher wage, they find a foreign work- er ready to work the same job for practically nothing. This is unacceptable." In this sense while Abela seems bent on using foreign labour as a sheer resource for economic growth, with very little interest in addressing the problems it creates, Grech risks nurturing an 'us vs them' cul- ture in which the foreign other, apart from being a victim is al- so perceived as a threat. Grech does not blame those exploiting these workers or call for concrete measures aimed at improving working condi- tions for these workers, limit- ing himself to denouncing an abstract economic model for which he can blame Labour. Moreover, this generic asser- tion does not reflect the reality emerging from statistical data which suggests that workers from outside the EU are mostly taking up lowly paid jobs which for good reason the native working class is shunning In fact, over the last decade, the portion of Maltese workers earning less than €20,000 fell by 30% to be squarely taken up by lower-paid, non-EU work- ers. In 2012 there were 108,000 Maltese nationals earning less than €20,000 a year; a decade later they fell to 77,000. In all other salary bands, there was an increase in the Maltese workforce. The same data sug- gests that many of these jobs were directly filled by low- er-paid migrants from outside the European Union. In fact, the largest increases in TCNs were in those salary bands that fall below €20,000: from a mere 3,000 in 2012 to 29,000 in 2022. Grech also vaguely hints that a future PN government will embark on a new immigra- tion policy where the skills of foreign workers, especially in new sectors, are transferred to local workers so that their con- ditions can increase. But this fails to explain how the PN will tackle exploitation in sectors like catering and construction where third country nationals cater for the increased demand for unskilled jobs. And while it makes sense to advocate a shift towards "new" economic sectors which pay Maltese and foreigners alike better wages, such a shift can only take place in the long term which means that the pressing issue of pre- carious working conditions must still be addressed in the short term. Bernard 'all over the place' Grech