EU Parliament elections & Young People

Note: The following article was submitted by ZHN for the 090509.org in conjunction with the European Parliament Elections in June 2009. ZHN was the sole young people organization to participate to this initiative with UHM a local trade union. The article can be found on www.090509.org. Special Thanks goes to Albert Debono.

Youth

In view of the European parliament elections, young people have been featuring in promotional material, speeches and promises. This is good as it means that the candidates are realizing the great input young people can give towards building a better society.
Also, a good number of candidates can be comfortably qualify with young people themselves, while the young at heart are clearly also aware of the potential of young people! These are all positive factors showing not only that young people are managing to project their potential on society better but also that it is being received and acknowledged.

However, Żgħażagħ Ħaddiema Nsara (ZHN) feels that more needs to be done! On one side we need to sustain what is being done BY young people FOR them and AMONGST them! Unfortunately at a recent seminar a University lecturer speaking of young people and the media mentioned how young people are most often only mentioned in relation to criminal and negative reporting. The exception of sport was mentioned, however too many youth initiatives pass unobserved by the media!

ZHN would like candidates to commit themselves to encourage awareness and coverage of youth initiatives while promoting and supporting even more! Too often it seems like we would rather care than prevent! We believe both are needed but prevention should be given more priority even though results aren't easily reported. Accountability in this regard could arrive in other ways.

On the other hand thousands of young people still seem to be invisible to Malta and the European Community. Why do we still have so many young people who, while having the legal right to be in a workers union, in practice cannot be part of one? This is the reality for too many young people working in unskilled employment, with whom so many of us share the buildings we work in. It is common knowledge, but results haven’t been forthcoming yet!

ZHN would like to see action from our elected candidates, encouraging the EU pressing for, and encouraging governments to take concrete action in this regard, by making it legal to insert clauses in tendering of certain services requiring unskilled/semi skilled workers such as cleaning and security (albeit not only these) to declare the wages they will pay to their workers and see that these are actually adhered to while ensuring that each worker has a clearly explained contract in his possession. Too much of this is still lacking!

ZHN believes that positive change in these issues can only be achieved through the active involvement of young people themselves. Consequently, the movement is committed to serve, educate, and represent the young workers on a national level in Malta but also on within European structures where our international secretariat is present especially through the European Youth Forum (EYF).