The Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) has been revised down to €5.82 from €6.06 as was originally announced a week ago.
The revision was a result of what was defined as a “miscalculation” by the board that calculated the impact of inflation on purchasing power.
Even though revised, the COLA adjustment per week for every worker is still considered to be the “highest ever” since the introduction of the mechanism 20 years ago.
Employers and industrialists have called on government to absorb part of the burden, particularly in those sectors that are facing severe difficulties such as tourism and manufacturing.
They have insisted that the COLA increase was a result of government induced inflation given the impact of the introduction of high utility tariffs that were retroactive as from October 2008.
As Finance minister Tonio Fenech has alredy warned that government does not have to money to absorb part of the COLA increase for this year, trade unions have warned that it would be highly unjust to use taxpayers money to compensate for an expense already carried by workers during 2009.
Talks between government and social partners are reported to be scheduled to take place this week, with MCESD meetings due to take place before the end of this week.
