Need a job? ‘Support Joseph Muscat as Prime Minister’

Anyone needing a job need not bother visiting JobsPlus, the national employment authority, because a list of opportunities is conveniently provided on a Facebook page entitled ‘Support Joseph Muscat staying on as Prime Minister’.

Regular posts list a wide range of employment opportunities for posts ranging from accountants to cleaners, and from trailer drivers to customer care representatives.

JobsPlus is a national authority. Pushing employment opportunities to Labour Party supporters who are encouraged to support Joseph Muscat is yet another example of the blurring of lines between Government and Party.

In fact, the main scope of the page is to push employment opportunities to the Party’s supporters, with occasional posts on news from the Party’s media outlet pushing the government line on any issue, as well as TVM, the State broadcaster.

Some of the jobs listed are available on the JobsPlus website, but others also appear that cast doubt on whether employment laws are being followed.

A recent post advertising a vacancy for a trailer driver offers a daily net income of €70 with an hourly rate of €9 for overtime. It is not common for trailer drivers to earn these amounts after paying the tax and social security contributions due.

The rates for membership with the Labour Party are also advertised on the Facebook page for good measure. There is also a page for the Prime Minister’s wife Michelle Muscat, calling for support for the woman who is currently the subject of a magisterial inquiry into allegations she owned Egrant, a company exposed in the Panama Papers.