Maltapost yesterday indirectly accused the Union Haddiema Maghqudin of bullying tactics, saying the company was prepared to meet the union to iron out difficulties but that the union had instead chosen to order industrial action.

The industrial action ordered, the company said, “is not justified and should be withdrawn immediately.”

The action, calling on mailmen not to handle door-to-door material, was ordered by the union because, it claims, employees were being injured by the heavy loads they

carried.

Maltapost said it distributed postal material that did not carry an address and also offered commercial postage services, in a bid to diversify its services.

It considered the health and safety of its employees as a priority and to ensure that postmen did not carry excessive weight, the company introduced a system that also offered compensation to postmen if they used their private vehicles to distribute such material.

These measures had sorted out the difficulties that arose with regard to the weight of packages carried by postmen, and Maltapost was also prepared to meet the UHM to iron out other issues. But, it said, the UHM had chosen to order industrial action.

In a meeting held with the Director of Industrial Relations and Employment on Tuesday, Maltapost agreed to carry out a risk assessment exercise on its employees. But the company said it was prepared to continue negotiations with the union only if the industrial action order were withdrawn.