The social dialogue in our country earlier took on another dimension when for the first time, the meeting of the Maltese Council for Economic and Social Development – MCESD – was not held where the Council traditionally met but was held in the quarters of -General Workers’ Union.
This development shows signs of unity among the social partners who will start meeting each other. Regarding this, this site took the comments of some of the social partners who all expressed their satisfaction for this development.
The General Secretary of the General Workers’ Union Josef Bugeja said that although the GWU welcomed the partners for the first meeting of this type, in the coming time MCESD meetings will be held at social partners others.
Bugeja went on to say that these meetings with each other will continue to send a strong message of how alive the social dialogue in Malta is and also about the importance of the MCESD to plan the development of the country and to implement necessary policies.
The Architect David Xuereb, Chairman of the Council, stated that the MCESD made history because the social partners came together to discuss important topics for the first time in the house of one of the social partners, which is the -GWU.
He pointed out that the social partners were welcomed at GWU not only in a professional way but also because they managed to discuss both the ‘public procurement’ which is dear to all the social partners as well as the skills that our country needs to obtain the -the economy we really want.
He reiterated his belief that yesterday’s meeting had such an impact that we will see its fruits in the future.
Dr Marthese Portelli, Chief Executive of the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprises and Industry meant that the MCESD is there to listen and say what civil society has to say and therefore discuss topics that are relevant to the country.
She said that it was the Chairman, the Architect David Xuereb who took the decision to start meeting each other so that not only to exchange ideas but also to be entering each other’s house. This is a good idea because ultimately the country benefits the more we work with each other in a collaborative spirit.
Paul Abela, President of the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises described yesterday’s meeting of the MCESD in the GWU building as a historic one as it is the first time the MCESD met at one of the social partners.
He added that this was a positive experience and while expressing his satisfaction he thanked the GWU for its hospitality and said that he hopes that this process of social partners meeting in each other’s buildings will continue.
For his part, the Parliamentary Secretary for Social Dialogue Andy Ellul said that it is important that the MCESD continues to discuss topics that affect the social partners, but also the people in general in a direct way. He claimed that the fact that they are meeting at one of the social partners, namely the General Workers’ Union, is another significant step in this context. “I look forward to this practice continuing to open the MCESD and strengthen the aspect of collaboration between the social partners”, concluded Ellul.
