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The Committee takes note of the information provided by the Government in its report and notes in particular that during the last year, no industrial action was affected as a result of compulsory arbitration. The Government indicates that whenever the Minister responsible for labour receives applications for referral of trade disputes to the Industrial Tribunal, he refers these disputes to the department for conciliation and that it is only after all avenues have been sought by all the social partners without resulting in settlement that a trade dispute is referred for hearing by the Industrial Tribunal. Also, the Government has just made public a legislative proposal which will enhance the Malta Council for Economic Development, by widening its scope to include the social development of Malta in its terms of reference. The Committee takes note of this information and asks the Government to inform it in its next report of any development in this regard and to forward a copy of the legislation adopted.

The Committee has to recall once again that it has been making comments on the incompatibility between the Industrial Relations Act and the provisions of the Convention for more than 20 years and therefore regrets that no amendments have been made to this date to improve voluntary procedures for the settlement of industrial disputes. The Committee can only reiterate once again with regret the discrepancies between the legislation (sections 27-34 of the 1976 Industrial Relations Act) and the Convention relating to the discretionary powers of the Minister to impose compulsory arbitration whereas such recourse should be restricted to the following cases: (a) public servants exercising authority in the name of the State; (b) essential services, namely those the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population; (c) situations of acute national crisis; or (d) cases in which both parties request arbitration.

The Committee expresses again the firm hope that the Government will take the necessary measures in the very near future to bring its legislation into greater conformity with the Convention.