ALPA-Malta said today it has filed a judicial protest in the First Hall of the Civil Court, in order to hold Air Malta plc and the Government of Malta responsible for the what the association said were illegalities which have tainted the company’s decision to terminate the employment of 69 pilots, as well as the decision to demote 31 captains to first officers.
The government, the Airline Pilots Association said, has also been formally called upon to “honour the contractual obligations existing in terms of a number of agreements” entered into between ALPA and ministers Konrad Mizzi and Edward Zammit Lewis, acting as representatives of the government.
By means of the said agreements, members of the association were given job guarantees within the Maltese territory and provided with assurances that their conditions of employment would be preserved until the signing of a new collective agreement.
ALPA-Malta said it is disappointed that the Government of Malta had opted not to participate in the discussions preceding the termination of employment of our members, despite various requests by the Association to this effect. It is also unfortunate that a cluster of individuals at the higher tiers of the management of the company, hand-picked by the current administration, have opted to trample on workers’ rights and conditions of employment.
The government is well aware of the fact that ALPA-Malta has persistently reaffirmed its intention to do its utmost to contribute to the growth of the local aviation sector. It is, therefore, disheartening that such irregularities have necessitated direct action against the government in order for our members’ legal and contractual rights to be respected, ALPA said.