Author: SME Chamber

Air Malta has strengthened its resolve to take the difficult and necessary decisions to save the national airline which will also ensure a positive outcome for the country.  This was the reaction of the airlines’ chairwoman Ms Maria Micallef after receiving the news of Cyprus Airways demise by the European Commission.

GRTU is in full support of Air Malta’s restructuring and it appeals to the various stakeholders involved to be reasonable and 

understanding to the situation, because if the airline does not show future sustainability it could follow in the footsteps of Cyprus Airways.

Air Malta plays an important role not only for the stakeholders direct involved but also for the tourism industry that thrives from the business generated by the airline. These stakeholders must accept this change in the airlines operations as a new beginning to make it sustainable again so that they can benefit from its survival.

GRTU met Hon Minister Edward Scicluna to discuss its concerns in relation to the new excise duty imposed on tyres as per Budget 2015.

Prior to the meeting GRTU analysed how the addition of the excise would impact different types of operators and the impact was indeed significant:

1.     Large tyre importers

GRTU estimated that a company importing large commercial tyres on a regular basis (6 times a year) would have normally paid around €7K in taxes (Eco Tax and VAT) a year, while with the new Excise tax they would pay around €70K a year in taxes (excise and VAT on excise).

2.  Freight forwarders

A large enterprise in this sector would change around 300 tyres a year. Up to the end of 2014 the enterprise would have paid an estimate of €1.6K in taxes (Eco Tax and VAT) while with the new system the tax element would increase to €17K (Excise + VAT).

GRTU argued that the increases on users of large tyres were too hefty and would significantly impact their competitiveness because it will increase their running costs. In addition the excise will also decrease the competitiveness of importers because it will be cheaper to change tyres outside Malta. As such GRTU suggested that the Ministry would cap the maximum amount of Excise that could be due on large tyres.

Another aspect raised by the GRTU was that whereas with the previous system eco tax was paid only once the product is sold, meaning first it is recuperated and then it is paid after, with excise, the payment is due on import. As a mitigating proposal GRTU suggested that importers would be given a longer credit term.

The Ministry accepted GRTU’s arguments and its proposals, agreeing to introduce a capping of tyres over 35kg and it also agreed to a credit term of 3 months. GRTU estimates that these changes will reduce the excise duty burden on large tyre importers by a minimum of 50%.

In addition GRTU emphasised with the Ministry that the excise duty will be even more harmful if enforcement is not effective and GRTU therefore asked for this to be beefed up. As such it suggested that the scanner would be moved on a regular basis to other areas through which importation of goods occur. This was also a proposal the Ministry found acceptable.

The Occupational Health and Safety Authority refers to photos that are intermittently posted on the media showing unsafe construction work practices and feels that it is opportune to clarify various misconceptions.

Photos posted by media – Whilst understanding the general interest of media and civic minded persons in reporting unsafe work practices to media and thus contributing in the prevention of accidents at work, unfortunately such approach will not reach the effectiveness desired if OHSA is not immediately informed. This is being said in view of the fact that most of the time, 

photos are published hours and even months after the occurrence of the unsafe work practice, hence leaving the same person/s being exposed to serious and imminent danger in particular when risks of falls from height are concerned. To this end, concerned persons are being urged to immediately inform OHSA in cases where unsafe working situations are noted. OHSA adopts a confidentiality reporting procedure in order to secure the confidentiality of the complainant.

Occupational Health and Safety in Construction Sites –The construction industry is undoubtedly considered as one of the most hazardous work environments, mainly due to the continuous changing of work situations and exposure to risks of falls from height. This can be also confirmed by the number of enforcement actions taken by OHSA in cases where breaches of occupational health and safety legislation have been noted. In view of this matter, OHSA is reminding all duty holders of the legal provisions laid down in the Occupational Health and Safety Authority Act XXVII of 2000 and in particular in L.N. 281 of 2004 – Work Place (Minimum Health and Safety Requirements for Work at Construction Sites) Regulations. L.N. 281 of 2004 lays down the minimum health and safety requirements for work at construction sites which shall be followed by a number of duty holders being the Client, Contractors, Project Supervisors and Workers themselves. The term “client” means any natural or legal person for whom a project is carried out and whom is vested with the most important legal provisions. One of the main duties of the client is to appoint a project supervisor for the design stage and a project supervisor for the construction stage. Such appointment shall be made in respect of every project. The client may assume such roles, however, in order to do so one must be competent in matters pertaining to occupational health and safety. In cases where work is scheduled to last longer than thirty working days and on which more than twenty workers are occupied simultaneously, or on which the volume of work is scheduled to exceed five hundred person-days, the Project Supervisor shall submit the Construction Notification Form to OHSA at least four calendar weeks before work starts. Project Supervisors are vested with a number of other duties which shall be followed in particular those pertaining to the compilation of the required occupational health and safety documents and the coordination of the implementation of the general principles of prevention and safety.Being a complex subject, occupational health and safety requires the cooperation of stakeholders and duty holders. Healthier and safer workplaces can only be achieved if all duty holders recognise that it is in their best interest to adhere to their duties imposed by occupational health and safety legislation. Whilst recognising the pivotal role OHSA has to maintain compliance with occupational health and safety legislation, it would be unreasonable to expect OHSA to be physically present in all workplaces at all times. This has been reflected in the legislation both on a local and European level, where in the case of construction works, the client has been endowed with the main and ultimate responsibility to ensure the appropriate management of health and safety. This is also clearly reflected in L.N. 281 of 2004 which stipulates that the appointment of Project Supervisors (as laid down in the same legislation), does not relieve the client from his legal responsibilities.On finding a breach of health and safety legislation, OHSA will take the necessary and appropriate legal action. It is worthy to point out that legal action will invariably be taken against clients. For this reason, it will be in the client’s best interest to appoint reputable project supervisors and contractors who have the necessary capabilities and technical knowledge to perform well and safely the task to be entrusted to them. This essentially means that when evaluating quotations, the client should not automatically choose the cheapest one, unless it can be shown that adequate safety control measures will be taken.

Tougher penalties for breaches of Occupational Health and Safety legislation – Whilst acknowledging the importance of establishing a risk preventive culture through education channels, OHSA is currently working on dramatically increasing the penalties to be handed out in cases where occupational health and safety legislation is being breached. This approach will be reflected in an increase in the maximum fines and imprisonment terms. The intention of such approach is to deter duty holders from breaching occupational health and safety legislation.

GRTU Deputy President Philip Fenech has this week attended the launch of the Tourism Policy draft which was addressed by the Minister of Tourism Dr Edward Zammit Lewis.

The policy draft included the contribution of all stakeholders which could be affected within the tourism industry. Amongst these stakeholders GRTU proposed a number of recommendations which included the proposal to maximise the use of resources within Malta’s localities. It is important that tourists are spread amongst all localities. This will ease the increasing pressure on the infrastructure resulting from the increase in tourists flow.

GRTU proposes allowing the change of use for buildings which can be used for back office work or for other activities of an economic value. GRTU also urged the Government to invest in the infrastructure within the localities so that tourists can have easy access to facilities everywhere they choose to go and stay.

GRTU, in collaboration with ETC, has held an information session on Wednesday 7th January 2015 on the Training Aid Framework 2 Funding Opportunity. The session explained how employers could benefit from up to 70% reimbursement for costs regarding training held between 

January and June 2015. These costs include the trainer costs, the costs (hourly wage) of the training hours of the employee, and any travelling costs. Training can be both external as well as internal. Non-accredited training is also eligible up to 25 hours. The training can be of any type as long as it is not the minimum requirements stated by law to be able to operate in a particular role or sector.

In view of upcoming funding schemes to be issued for companies to reach certification standards, the session also gave an overview of a quality management training which can be undertaken between:

• 12-16 April 2015 – 9am to 2pm

• 17-22 May 2015 – 12pm to 5pm

This training costs Eur335 (excl. VAT), for which funding can be applied for under the TAF2 scheme.

The deadline for the TAF2 scheme is 16th January 2015 at 12:00hrs.

GRTU urges our members to address any training needs through this funding scheme and encourages you to apply. Even though it is only one week away, there is still ample time to make the necessary preparations. GRTU will be assisting you along the way.

For any information or support regarding the TAF2 funding scheme as well as regading the Quality Management course, kindly contact GRTU on 21232881or by email on

No wonder the taxi drivers in London and Paris protested angrily after the introduction of the UBER system in their respective cities.  UBER is already affecting their business in a big way and they are right to worry. So what is this UBER that everyone is talking about all over Europe? In a nutshell it matches people who need to go from one place to another within in a city with people who can offer a ride in their car to the desired location. The people providing the driving service are regular citizens looking to make some extra money on the side and not traditional taxi drivers. Having personally experienced just how good this system is performing in major cities such as Brussels, there is no doubt in my mind that this system could also work equally well in Malta. Once you try it, you will be simply amazed at how well the system works.

So, you start by downloading an App on your mobile phone or tablet. There is an app for all the popular mobile platforms. You will need to have a data connection on your device whenever you use it, but who doesn’t these days ?. Once you have downloaded and installed the app, you will need to create an account with UBER which is easy enough. You will be asked for your personal details and your credit card details as well. Don’t worry that your credit card might be abused; this is a tried and tested global system and comes highly recommended. When you create an account, you will be sent a key which you must then type in the first time you use the system. Once you have done that you are good to go.

So, how do you use it ? Simple, the next time you need to travel to a location, all you need to do is fire up your UBER app and select the destination. The app knows where you are already and immediately tells you how far away your driver is, even before you select your destination. You can also request a fare estimate which is supplied instantaneously. Once you click on the button to accept the terms and summon the driver, the location of the driver is shown on a map and you can also see approximately how long it is going to take the driver to get to your location. You can zoom in on the map and see exactly where the driver is and if you see that he is going the wrong way or cannot find you for some reason you can either call, text or even use one of the free messaging services to guide him. Once the driver arrives and you get into the car, the trip will have started. When you arrive at your destination the driver will click a button on his mobile to signal that the trip is complete. Through your mobile device, you will then be asked to rate the driver. This is an excellent feature of the system as it should weed out careless or inexperienced drivers through simple peer review. When initially you start the process you are always shown the driver rating and you can cancel your UBER order at any time if you see that the driver has a poor rating, or you don’t like him for some reason. You can also see a picture of the driver, the type of vehicle and his car registration number as well. The driver is also seeing where you are on his mobile device, knows your name and where you are from and uses the app itself to navigate to your location. Your credit card is only debited when the trip is complete. The way UBER payments work make the whole process easier as you don’t have to reach for your wallet for the money and the driver does not have to ensure that he has the correct change. There is also no possibility of the driver asking you for more money or cheating you in some other way. There is also no meter that the driver can fiddle with. You are tracked through your mobile device so there can be no disagreements with time taken or distance travelled.

Besides the above, which is, after all what one would expect the system to do to perform its core functions, the UBER system also allows you to share a ride with someone else. Say for example you are with a colleague and you both need to go to the airport. If your colleague also has an UBER account, you simply add the person to the ride and the cost of the ride is split equally between the two. Since payment is totally automated, there is no messy splitting of the fair in the traditional way and having to look for small change and so on which make it so easy to share a ride.

When the volume of people using the UBER system increases substantially such a on a Friday evening when people go out and therefore there is high demand, UBER informs you that the cost will be higher than usual and asks you if you want to accept this change. It will even inform you if you want to wait for the excessive demand to subside.

One of the things that totally amazes you when you try to use the service for the first time is the variety of people who are choosing to be drivers for UBER. Remember, that as mentioned above, these are not Taxi drivers. They are simply people looking to earn some extra money using their car. Because of this, and through my personal experience, I can tell you that they try to talk to you and are usually far better educated than your average taxi driver.  They are interested in knowing where you are from and what you do and try hard to strike up a conversation with you. They are also instructed to offer you bottled water and this they do every time although personally, I found this quite strange. It is in their interest that they make your ride as enjoyable as possible. You will be rating them when you get to wherever it is you want to go!

And don’t worry that your driver may pick you up driving a piece of junk because UBER even allows you to select the type of car you would like to use. You will of course pay more for a high end sedan than for a regular every day car.

Besides the sheer convenience of not having to walk to a taxi stand or call a taxi company the fares being charged by UBER are far lower than taxi fares even in major cities such as Brussels. For example, a trip from one of the hotels situated around the Shuman area in Brussels to Brussels airport would usually set you back approximately €55 whereas with UBER it costs €21 to €27 depending on the traffic conditions and at lean times it can even go down to €11!. The difference in price is striking but the service is the same if not better with UBER. On top of the cheap prices, you  always know beforehand the cost of your trip.

Applied to the Malta scenario UBER could definitely work. Distances are short and there should be no shortage of drivers. Consider for example, you have an errand in Valletta, using your car will mean the cost of the fuel which can be substantial if you include the extra fuel that you waste looking for parking. Most likely you will also end up having to either pay for your parking or at least for CVA. With UBER, the costs incurred by the driver will only be the fuel costs from your location to Valletta and most likely, if the system is well known he would very likely pick another passenger from Valletta on his way back. There is also the wear and tear on your car which you have to consider as well as the risk of having your car damaged either through a collision or through somebody scratching it which is all too common in places like Valletta.

The downside of the system could be safety concerns as you are in effect riding in a car with a stranger, however, with a Taxi there is also some of this risk element as I am sure many will agree. Taxi drivers are well known for arrogant behavior and for trying to extort money from unwary tourists for example. The peer review system should also help to warn potential users that a driver is unreliable. UBER also employ a vetting system which is tailored according to the country that the driver lives in. Furthermore, the fact that the system requires at least a basic knowledge of how to use a mobile phone, ensures that at least a basic level of education is required to become a driver and applicants need to be at least literate.

Article by Marcel Mizzi (GRTU Vice President, Finance & Administration)