The Union Haddiema Maghqudin ordered a two-hour strike for maritime pilots yesterday after it claimed that the Ports Directorate within the Malta Maritime Authority had failed to install safety equipment for the pilots.
But in his comments to The Malta Independent, Director of Ports Charles Schembri said the industrial action was uncalled for, since the MMA had already installed most of the safety equipment requested by the pilots.
Earlier this year, the maritime pilots asked the MMA to install safety equipment on the pilot boats. The issue was taken to arbitration and a judgement was handed down in April this year. The MMA was required to install 11 safety items, which ranged from flares to pilot ladders, to life jackets and a retrieval system. The arbitration decision did not specify a date by which the equipment had to be installed, but the pilots themselves set 15 August as the deadline, he said.
Mr Schembri explained that all but two of the promised items of equipment had been installed. The only two items still outstanding were the retrieval system and the propeller guards. Difficulties are being encountered with the installation of these items, because it could affect the structure of the boats. He said that as soon as the arbitration decision was handed down, the pilots and the directorate immediately began discussions, through a technical committee, in order to establish how the safety equipment would be installed. All the safety equipment was purchased and put in place, apart from the retrieval system – used when a man is overboard – and the propeller guards, which protect anyone in the water from the propellor blades.
Mr Schembri said the pilots know that discussions have been ongoing to install these last two items and also know of the difficulties which have been encountered. “The pilots only verbally approved the retrieval system of their choice early yesterday morning. It cannot be ordered from abroad before the technical problems are overcome. The pilots are constantly being kept informed of developments. They know the MMA is leaving no stone unturned to install the safety equipment, so the strike was uncalled for,” he said.
In a statement, UHM section secretary Joe Grillo said the strike was ordered because safety equipment had not been installed on the pilot boats. He said the two-hour strike staged yesterday was just the beginning and warned that industrial action could escalate in due course. In fact, another strike has been scheduled for between 6am and 10am today.