The signing took place after a large majority of PBS workers approved the agreement at a meeting held by the GWU at Television House on Wednesday afternoon.
Of the 162 employees who attended the meeting, 153 voted in favour, three voted against and six abstained.
John Gatt, permanent secretary in the Ministry for Government Investments and Information Technology, signed the agreement on behalf of the government, while PBS chairman Michael Mallia and GWU services’ and media section secretary Karmenu Vella signed on behalf of PBS and the GWU respectively.
As revealed by The Malta Independent on Sunday two weeks ago, PBS will have 64 employees instead of the current 178, with five managerial posts and 59 non-managerial.
The five managerial posts will include a Manager News, who will also be the registered editor according to the Press Act, Manager Programmes, who will also be responsible for archives, Manager Operations, Manager Corporate Services and a Sales and Marketing Executive.
The existing collective agreement of the managerial grades will be abolished, although the managers will be able to join a trade union.
The non-managerial posts include seven co-ordinators – two for news, and one each for television, radio, finance, administration and an assistant sales executive.
There will also be six journalists/editors, four directors/editors, six cameramen, and 16 studio operators for both radio and television.
Furthermore, two pools are being created – a technical resources pool comprising seven technical officers and a support pool comprising eight clerks and five messengers/clerks/ general hands.
Working practices are being changed radically, including the abolition of half-days in summer for employees not working on a shift basis.
PBS employees will not be allowed to moonlight for the company’s competitors anymore and those caught doing so will be immediately dismissed, said Minister for Government Investments and Information Technology Austin Gatt, who was present when the agreement was signed.
Four different types of early retirement schemes, similar to those provided at Malta Drydocks and Malta Shipbuilding, are being offered
Dr Gatt said applications for these schemes will open tomorrow.
The non-managerial posts will be filled by an internal call for applications, while applications for the managerial posts will be both internal and external.
The GWU will be informed in advance of the selection criteria that will be used in the interviews the PBS management will be holding to fill the non-managerial posts, and the respective weighting of each criterion.
PBS workers who do not apply for early retirement, or apply and are not chosen for re-employment with the company, will be re-assigned to other government departments or entities (including local councils), public-private partnerships, or with the private sector on a voluntary basis or following “effective consultation” with the GWU.
These re-assigned workers will retain the basic salary they currently have at PBS.
If PBS has any vacancies in the non-managerial grades, former employees who would have been re-assigned to another job would be given first preference if they fulfil the requirements.
All current PBS full time employees will be given a one-off payment of Lm120 because the last collective agreement expired over three years ago and no increases were given.
The new collective agreement will cover five years, from 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2009.
Dr Gatt said a broadcasting policy will be announced next Wednesday outlining the relationship between the government and PBS with regard to the public service remit and the granting of the subsidy.
A public service relationship contract will be signed between the minister responsible for broadcasting and PBS, Dr Gatt said.
However, Dr Gatt did not want to reveal any more details about this broadcasting policy since it was still being finalised.
He added that the government was also working on a policy to make PBS news output more independent of political parties.
Dr Gatt also spoke about having a programme outsourcing system “that is much more open, similar to a tendering process”.
Commenting on the specifics of the agreement, Dr Gatt said the government had achieved its aim of having a sustainable public broadcasting service. “Now the real work starts. The management has to concentrate on the finances of the company,” he said.
Dr Gatt said that under the new PBS management, which took over in the second half of last year, there had already been an improvement in the company’s finances, with administrative expenses and overtime being reduced and airtime sales increasing. However, the first real impact of the restructured company will be measured in the financial year ending in 2005.
The annual subsidy for PBS has been confirmed at Lm0.5 million, down from the Lm2.5 million it used to receive till last year, Dr Gatt said.
Asked by The Malta Independent on Sunday whether the government was allocating any of the money it had promised for the technical upgrading of PBS last October, Dr Gatt said Lm0.5 million had already been earmarked for this purpose and he had asked PBS to draw up a list of the equipment it needs.
Mr Vella said the agreement was reached in “abnormal” and “difficult” circumstances, “but both sides understood that something had to be done to make PBS sustainable”.
“The GWU’s priority was that none of the PBS employees lose their job. We have achieved this aim as all workers who today are on the PBS books have their job assured, either with PBS or seconded to government entities or with the government itself.
“I hope that everybody has learnt a lesson. I do not wish to find ourselves in these circumstances again. It is a pity that government enterprises were left to get into such a predicament,” Mr Vella said.
“Both the politicians and the unions have the duty to ensure that they are always in a sustainable position. We cannot let these enterprises deteriorate to such an extent that we have to carry out restructuring which would ‘hurt’ workers,” Mr Vella said. “I believe that we must find the courage and be vigilant of each other so that what was agreed is implemented”.
Mr Mallia agreed that negotiating the agreement with the GWU was a difficult exercise.
“I thank the union for having the courage to come for these discussions, with the common aim of both parties wanting to close this chapter and open a totally different one,” Mr Mallia said.
This, Mr Mallia said, was a process of restructuring which would radically change the way the company operated as it will now move in totally new directions.
“PBS will not only be a sustainable station, but will also be a station which will act accordingly to a charter, deliver certain products and will not accept mediocrity. I am saying this clearly to those people who used to be commissioned by PBS (to produce programmes),” Mr Mallia warned.
GWU deputy secretary general Manwel Micallef thanked PBS employees for understanding the situation and supporting the union during the negotiations over the past months, in spite of the evident tension and the demoralising situation, thus enabling the GWU to reach this agreement.
“For those who had the perception that public broadcasting in our country is not relevant anymore because we have pluralism in broadcasting, this agreement, including the collective agreement, is an affirmation of the need of our country to have its public broadcasting,” Mr Micallef insisted.
Mr Micallef said that during the negotiations, a balance had to be struck between the economic, financial and commercial aspect of the company and the social aspect. “One must keep in mind, after all, that we are speaking about people and their families, our human resources”.
“In this collective agreement, we have seen trade unions becoming stakeholders in the country’s economic and social development. I augur that what is now being done on a company level will also be done on a national level,” Mr Micallef concluded.
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