Despite being the trade union which is recognised by the Malta Public Transport employees, Union Haddiema Maghqudin cannot delve into the bus driver’s timetable manipulation issue as raised by Nationalist MP Marthese Portelli in Parliament because the MPT workers are still working under the collective agreement set by the General Workers Union.

UHM chief executive officer Josef Vella explained that a new collective agreement between the union and the MPT employees will be signed in a period of three months. The negotiations started in the beginning of this month and Mr Vella is confident that everything will be concluded by March.

“This is the first time where a trade union tied itself publically to a deadline,” he explained.

During Tuesday’ s Parliamentary session, Shadow Minister for Transport Marthese Portelli revealed a bus driver’s timetable which showed an anomaly in the timing.

The timetable shows that the driver had to work between 24:35 till 29:08.

“I thought a day was 24 hours long,” Dr Portelli said.

She explained that this irregularity was being done in order for MPT not to pay the driver his due overtime pays.

Dr Portelli also mentioned that drivers are not being paid for the time required for them to go to the driver’s depot to deposit the money.

This newsroom tried to contact land transport chief, Konrad Pule for a reaction but he was not available for comment.