“This was the one thing we were ready to tolerate to prevent a strike,” Balzan told Lovin Malta, stating that the move would have seen weddings resemble a restaurant environment. “Science and the Superintendent of Public Health are stating that there shouldn’t be any mass events right now, but we wanted to avoid a strike.”

However, Cabinet rejected the proposed compromise yesterday, prompting the MAM to launch industrial action.

“They told us they don’t want any restrictions on parties as though there’s no such thing as an epidemic,” Balzan said. “We risk being restricted by all EU countries and all we’re interested in is holding parties of thousands of people.”

“Politicians, not scientists, are calling the shots.”

And Balzan said the MAM is no longer willing to compromise on weddings, stating that cases have continued increasing and that the strike will now only be called off if events involving more than 10 people are called off until Malta starts registering an average of three or fewer new COVID-19 cases a day over a two-week period.

He also dismissed the measures on mass events recently announced by Fearne as a “joke” on the grounds that they require self-assessment by event organisers and don’t involve police enforcement.

Malta has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks and there are currently 249 active cases. Very few of these cases are hospitalised and none are receiving intensive care, but Balzan warned the situation could change dramatically the moment vulnerable people get infected.

“Why should our members face so many sick people with a contagious disease just for the sake of a few parties?” he asked.

The union boss argued that imposing restrictions on mass events also makes sense from an economic perspective, as a rise in cases could see more EU countries blacklist Malta as a safe destination.

“The political level is promoting a culture of denial,” he said.

What do you make of Balzan’s point of view?