The General Workers Union is asking for government and Air Malta to offer a number of options to their employees, including an early retirement scheme, a voluntary retirement scheme, and the possibility of other jobs in the public sector.
The Union, representing the ground-handling workers at Air Malta, recently held talks with government.
“These proposals were put forward by the Union, as suggested by its members employed by the national airline during various meetings that discussed the ongoing situation at Air Malta,” a GWU representative told The Malta Independent yesterday.
Interestingly, these requests are similar to those offered by the previous Nationalist administration. Back then, the government had offered GWU-affiliated Air Malta workers the opportunity to retire early, voluntary termination, and voluntary termination with a one-time payment while applying for other government positions.
Government has thus far pledged that the workers’ take-home pay would be guaranteed, and that no workers will be made redundant.
The General Workers Union said that a number of options are currently on the table, but in the eventuality that a separate company is established for ground crew to be transferred into, it would be a transfer of business - meaning that they will continue in their current jobs.
A GWU representative explained that if this were to happen, workers would continue to enjoy the current benefits and working conditions as stipulated in the current collective agreement. “It is our intention to start negotiating a new collective agreement as soon as a way forward is finalised,” the GWU said yesterday.
The new company would basically sell their services to airlines.
In the eventuality of a new company being set up, the government would own it entirely, the representative said.
Asked what the options currently on the table are, the representative said: “Discussions are still ongoing and everything depends on the negotiations between Air Malta and the strategic partner”.
The tourism ministry was asked a number of questions, including whether it was true that government and Air Malta are considering moving ground crew into a separate company, whether the workers pay would remain the same and whether there would need to be any job cuts for ground handlers, and questions related to whether the EU would consider the workers moving into a government owned company as state aid, should that happen.
In response, the Tourism Ministry said, “Government is working with the GWU, and examining all possibilities, to ensure a win-win situation for the workers, airline and for the Maltese economy. The ultimate objective remains that to ensure that the operation is viable and sustainable in the long term.
“The Maltese government has kept the EU Commission updated with the progress that KM was making since it entered the restructuring plan and it will continue to do so in the coming weeks. Once the options are analyzed and decisions made, government will be discussing them with the EU Commission.”
The government recently concluded talks with both the Airline Pilots Union as well as the Cabin Crew Union, which saw some guarantees given however no collective agreement discussions have begun. Both the Cabin Crew and the Pilots had held industrial action as a result of the delays in their collective agreement discussions before these guarantees were given.