For many of us Christmas is all about spending the day with our families and loved ones, with the main highlight of the day being the traditional Christmas lunch.

But thousands of workers are not so lucky and have to work on 25 December.

Naturally, these include the disciplined forces. Crime does not always take a break on Christmas day, so hundreds of police officers will be on duty today (see video below). Officers work in shifts. Some work the morning shift and can spend time with their families in the afternoon while others spend quality time with the family in the morning and head to work in the afternoon. 

A spokesperson said that, for operations reasons we could not be told how many officers will be working in the different sections, such as the RIU and district stations, on Christmas Day. Also, because of the nature of the job, and because stations cannot be left unmanned, police officers cannot really go home for Christmas lunch.

Because some of us will manage to burn the Christmas turkey (and possibly, though hopefully not, the whole kitchen), many Civil Protection Department officers will also be on duty today. CPD Acting Director Emanuel Psaila said Christmas day is like any other day of the year as far as station manning is concerned and there will be seven officers at each fire station. “Of course, officers cannot go home for lunch because emergencies can happen at any time. But our crews usually hold their own Christmas lunch at the stations. This is similar to what happens on any Sunday.”

Gozitans who live in Malta would not be able to get home for Christmas if not for several Gozo Channel employees who will be working today. 132 Gozo Channel employees will be on duty today but, because the company suspends its afternoon service, they are allowed to join their loved ones for Christmas lunch. Company chairman Joe Cordina told this paper said: “Although Gozo Channel offers a vital link between the Maltese Islands, the Company has always endeavored to allow its employees to enjoy lunch with their family and friends both on Christmas and New Year’s Day.  Therefore the service will be temporarily suspended between 12:00 and 15:00. 

On both Christmas and New Year’s day the Company shall operate the normal schedule with the exception of the following trips; from Mgarr, Gozo : 12:00, 12:45, 13:30 and 14:15, and from Cirkewwa, Malta: 12:45, 13:30, 14.15 and 15:00.

While many prefer lunching at home or with relatives, others prefer dining out. Naturally, a lot of catering staff will be donning their uniforms and heading to work today. Tony Zahra, the President of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association said he estimated that some 10,000 people in the sector will be working today.

25 people will be busy at their desks safely landing airplanes. “The operations at Malta Air Traffic Services are on a continuous basis, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” said Kenneth Chircop, MATS CEO. “From this point of view, Christmas Day is like any other day of the year for us.  The total complement of employees sustaining the operation at any point in time is around 25, being air traffic controllers, technicians and flight data support personnel.”  

Because of the serious nature of the job, staff parties at the office are a no no. “On the day, the normal shift system will be effective, with no parties taking place while employees are on duty.”

Among the workers on duty at all times, including Christmas eve and Christmas day, there are over 45 technicians, engineers and customer care agents working for Enemalta plc round the clock.

At Enemalta, workers on duty include power plant operaters who need to continue controlling the electricity generation plants to ensure a continued supply that meet customers’ changing electricity demand, other workers carrying out preventive maintenance to the power plants and the national electricity grid, the engineers controlling the electricity distribution network at the Company’s Network Control Room and teams of technicians that are on standby at different parts of the country to provide assistance to customers who report technical difficulties in their electricity supply. At the same time, the Company’s Customer Care team is on duty 24/7 to respond to customers’ calls for assistance.

"We also have several engineers and technicians who would be assigned to be ready to report for work immediately at any hour, in case of emergencies. Whilst these employees would still be enjoying Christmas with their families, they would have to be on standby and ready to get to work immediately as soon as they are called in", an Enemalta spokesman said.

Last but not least are the journalists on duty today, like the person uploading this news story and, indeed, all other content on this portal – our online editor Stephen Calleja. A veteran journalist, he has witnessed great change in the sector, including during the Christmas period.

“When, 30 years ago, I started my journalism career, no newspapers were published on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, which effectively meant two days of vacation for the printed media. I remember that one of us used to go to the office on Christmas Day on stand-by for any accidents, which however used to be reported in newsprint on 27 December, two days later. It used to be an easy day, and although accidents did happen, we used to have all the time in the world to get the information required.

This is no longer so. The advent of the digital media has changed the way news is reported, and our life as journalists. Most of the journalists still take Christmas Day as a holiday, but there is now a need to man the news portal and upload any stories that come in, within minutes, and not two days later as was the case three decades ago. Most people get their news on mobile phones these days, and I’m sure many will be checking them during their Christmas lunch too. Therefore news websites have to be updated regularly.

As editor of The Malta Independent online, I’ve been effectively working on Christmas Day for the past years. It does not bother me much. I still get to be around with my family and enjoy the day, given that technology enables me to work from home, but I do it with one eye on my email account and another on foreign news.

In this way,  www.independent.com.mt is adjourned as news happens. It’s not the first time I had to put down my fork and knife to run a story. But that’s part of the job. News happens any day, any hour, any minute, not only on Christmas Day, and we have to be there to provide it.”