Volt Malta propose increasing minimum wage to €1,100 monthly

Jan 17 2022

Political party Volt has expressed its belief that every worker has the right to a living minimum wage. The party proposed the minimum wage to increase to €1,100 a month, with the aim of achieving it within 3 years.

In a statement, Volt revealed that it reached this figure by calculating 60% of the median wage, based on recommendations of the European Commission for a decent minimum wage.

‘Latest Eurostat data shows Malta’s minimum wage is 43% of the median wage, so 60% of the median wage (€1824.84) would be €1094.90.’

The party also called for the establishment of a Living Wage Directorate within the NSO that is responsible for regularly calculating the living wage. The NSO would also provide regular public figures on the median wage within the regular Labour Force survey.

Kassandra Mallia, Volt Malta Candidate and Vice-President said that ‘In Volt Malta we believe having good food and water, clothing, safe housing, efficient transportation and affording emergency expenses is a human right. A living wage is a stepping stone we are pushing for to make sure everyone has this right.’

Commending the efforts of Foodbank Lifeline and urging people to donate to them, the party acknowledged that current rising prices on essential items such as bread and dairy are worrisome and are impacting the working poor among us.

#MaltaDaily

Adrian Delia suggests Air Malta should scrap in-flight magazine to cut costs

Jan 17 2022

PN MP and former leader Adrian Delia proposed Air Malta should cut its in-flight magazine il-Bizzilla in order to reduce costs.

Taking to Facebook, Delia said; ‘So AirMalta is planning to remove hundreds of workers in order to cut its costs. A small idea to reduce costs would be to stop throwing away money in the production and printing of magazines when restaurants have to cut off paper menus or find digital alternatives.’

He also argued that the removal of the magazine, which is produced monthly in collaboration with marketing agency TBWA\ANG, will also reduce the amount of infections due to COVID-19.

This follows after last week, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana announced that the airline company will have to halve its workforce in order to survive. The company’s executive chairperson David Curmi also revealed that the airline had registered an operating profit in two out of 16 years.

#MaltaDaily

Photo Source: Adrian Delia FB

Vaccinated people have less chance of infecting others says Charmaine Gauci

Jan 17 2022

Pointing out the high rate of infectivity of the Omicron variant which now makes up most of Malta’s new cases, Superintendent for Public Health Charmaine Gauci reiterated how fully vaccinated people have less of a chance of getting infected or spreading it to others.

She explained how this is the main reason why people who are positive who have taken the booster jab can spend 10 days in isolation whereas others need to adhere to 14 days.

She went on to say that in the same way, people who live in the same home with someone who is positive need to spend 10 days in quarantine if they are completely vaccinated.

People who took the booster and were in direct contact with a positive case can leave quarantine on the 8th day after the last contact they had with the person, provided they have a negative PCR or rapid test. If they do not take the test but were boosted, they can go out after 10 days.

Asked whether the quarantine period will continuously be reduced, Gauci said that this is being discussed within the EU’s committee for public health. It will go down when the situation is stable and the science shows it can be done, she said.

This comes as Malta introduces the new pandemic restrictions, with people needing vaccine certificates to enter places like bars and restaurants. The rules were critiqued by several people and groups, but officials praised the rules’ effectiveness.

#MaltaDaily

Frank Fabri, top education official, resigns after Justyne Caruana scandal

Jan 17 2022

One month after former Education Minister Justyne Caruana gave up her position following an ethics probe by the Standards Commissioner, Frank Fabri also resigned from his post as education permanent secretary.

The government revealed in a statement that Matthew Vella will be taking his place, who took on the role of permanent secretary within the Ministry for Active Ageing in 2020.

No explanation for Fabri’s resignation was given by the statement, but thanked him for the changes he Brough about while he served his post. Fabri still remains a civil servant despite having resigned, with his new role yet to be determined.

Fabri had served in several roles within the education department as a director-general prior to becoming permanent secretary in 2017. Having served also as mayor of Rabat, Fabri was the subject of an internal civil service review which was assessing his role in a scandal cornering a €15,000 deal which he approved for Caruana’s friend Daniel Bogdanovic.

An ethics probe found that Bogdanovic had not written the report he was paid to draft himself and then repeatedly lied about it when questioned. Fabri had signed off on the contract, with Standards Commissioner George Hyzler noting that Fabri had been vague in his replies and declined to say whether it was the minister who proposed the footballer for the job.

#MaltaDaily