On 28 April 2017, Malta’s main trade union, the General Workers Union (GWU), held the conference “Together to Eliminate Carcinogens from the place of work” in collaboration with the ETUI.
The topic, the date and the venue were not selected by chance, with 28 April being the World Day on Safety and Health at Work and with occupational cancers the No. 1 cause of work-related deaths in Europe. Malta currently holds the presidency of the European Union (EU). More than a hundred participants took part in the debates, including many unionists, labour inspectors, universities and the official Maltese team tasked by the European Council with negotiating with the European Parliament and the European Commission on the revision of the directive on carcinogens or mutagens at work.