Pensjonanti tas-Servizzi Ingliżi

Ta’ min wieħed jerġa’ jfakkar fil-qagħda tagħhom.
Ħafna mill-pensjonanti tas-servizzi Ingliżi li spiċċaw tilfu l-impjieg fis-snin sebgħin tas-seklu l-ieħor, maż-żmien ħallewna. Imma għad baqa’ minnhom.
Damu s-snin jilmentaw li l-pensjoni li ħadmu għaliha mal-gvern Ingliż ikkontjat biex titnaqqsilhom il-pensjoni dovuta lilhom għal xogħol ieħor li għamlu wara jew qabel. Kellhom tort jew raġun, ftit ingħataw widen.
Bejn l-1996 u l-1998, ħriġna skema biex fuq ferq ta’ tliet snin, jingħataw bla tnaqqis iż-żewġ pensjonijiet li ħadmu għalihom. Il-gvern ta’ Fenech Adami waqqaf din l-iskema ħesrem.
F’daż-żmien meta l-ekonomija rrankat bil-kbir, dawk li baqa’ fostna mill-pensjonanti tas-servizzi Ingliżi jixirqilhom jingħataw sodisfazzjon talanqas għal parti kbira mit-talbiet tagħhom.
Miżura bħal din isservihom ta’ sostenn morali u materjali.
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IMPJIEGI F’MALTA
Tajjeb li l-qagħda tal-impjiegi fostna tiġi analizzata fid-dettall. Nafu li ilna snin twal ma jkollna daqstant postijiet tax-xogħol mimlija u qgħad daqstant baxx; li r-rata ta’ xogħol fost in-nisa qed tiżdied b’mod regolari għalkemm baqagħlha biex tilħaq dik tal-irġiel; li numru sostanzjali ta’ barranin qed jaħdmu Malta mingħajr ma dan jidher li qed ipoġġi lill-Maltin fi żvantaġġ; li l-prekarjat baqa’ jiżdied.
Is-suq tax-xogħol f’pajjiżna għaddej minn fażi dinamika li qed tiġġenera “feel good” tajjeb. M’għandniex nagħlqu għajnejna madankollu għall-iżbilanċi u n-nuqqasijiet li l-istess dinamika pożittiva tkun forsi qed taħbi.
Nisimgħu pereżempju l-ilmenti ta’ sidien li ma jistgħux isibu impjegati għax-xogħol li qed joffru f’oqsma li jeħtieġu ħila akkademika u teknika, u f’oħrajn li ma jeħtieġu l-ebda sengħa. Hemm l-istatistika Ewropea li turi li l-ħruġ finanzjarju fuq kull siegħa xogħol, bħala medja, qed jonqos.
Il-fortuna tal-lum tkun tista’ qed issuqna lejn sfortuna fil-futur bla ma nindunaw. Għalhekk irridu nanalizzaw tajjeb xinhu jiġri tassew.
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TLIET MUSKETTIERI
Deċennji ilu qrajtu għall-ewwel darba. Issa erġajt żortu: “It-Tliet Muskettieri” ta’ Alexandre Dumas hu rumanz storiku gwapp. Kont insejt ħafna mill-inċidenti tiegħu – reġgħu ħadu l-ħajja minkejja l-eżaġerazzjonijiet li ma jonqsux fin-nisġa tar-rakkont. Veru wkoll li l-ebda karattru mhu nieqes minn persentaġġ ta’ kartapesta fis-sura li jingħata. Biss, l-azzjoni tant hi mħarrka li dan kważi qatt ma jimporta.
Il-problema hi biex tiddetermina min tassew hu l-“eroj”: iż-żagħżugħ d’Artagnan li jasal Pariġi biex jingħaqad mal-muskettieri tar-re? It-tliet muskettieri sħabu? Il-Kardinal? Ikolli ngħid li hu u jikteb, Dumas tant twebbel bil-karattru ta’ Milady li effettivament ir-rumanz jispiċċa jagħqad madwarha. Tiġi preżentata bħala “dimonju”; kif u għaliex saret hekk, jibqa’ pjuttost vag.
Eċċellenti ix-xeni tal-bidu u tat-tmiem.

English Version – British Service pensioners

We need to again highlight their situation.

Many of the UK services pensioners who in the seventies decade of the previous century lost their job, have left us since. But a number are still with us.

They spent years insisting that the pension they worked for when in the service of the British government had been unfairly factored into an equation by which to reduce the pension due to them for other work they had done previously or later.

In between 1996 and 1998, we established a scheme by which over a period of three years, they would have achieved in full the two pensions they had worked for. Later, the Fenech Adami administration simply abrogated this arrangement.

Today, when the economy is growing strongly, it is proper that ex-UK services employees who are still with us be given satisfaction over at least a substantial part of their pension claims.

Such a measure would provide them with needed moral and material support.

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Jobs in Malta

It makes sense to analyse in detail the employment scene in Malta. We know that it has been a long time since we had so many people in jobs and such a low level of unemployment; that the rate of female participation in the job market has been rising regularly though it still is well below the male participation rate; that Malta has a substantial number of foreign workers without this apparently affecting Maltese workers negatively; that precarious employment has continued to rise.

The labour market is passing through a dynamic growth phase that is generating quite some feel good. We should not however ignore the imbalances and deficiencies that the same positive dynamic is perhaps screening.

We get for instance the public complaints of employers who cannot find workers for workplaces they are offering that require academic and technical accomplishments, as well as for other openings which require no skills. And then there are Eurostat tabulations which show how the unit cost of labour is on average, decreasing here.

Without our noticing, today’s good fortune could be driving us towards tomorrow’s misfortunes. That’s why we need to analyse thoroughly the situation as it is.

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Three Musketeers

I read it for the first time decades ago and have just revisited it. “The Three Musketeers” by Alexandre Dumas is a top class historical romance. I had forgotten many of the zigzags in its story line; they came alive once more, despite the exaggerations which litter the plot as it unfolds. It’s also true that for some part of them all, the characters in the novel are made of cardboard. However, the action runs so fast that this almost never counts for much.

One problem is how to establish who the real “hero” is: The young d’Artagnan who arrives in Paris to join the King’s Musketeers? His friends the three musketeers? The Cardinal? I’m tempted to conclude that as he wrote, Dumas got so fascinated by Milady as a character, that effectively the novel got wrapped around her exploits. She is projected as “the devil”; how and why she became so, remains somewhat vague.

The scenes at the beginning and end of the novel are excellent.