Requests to discuss the possibility of granting police unions the right to strike have been ignored by government, the secretary of the Malta Police Union Neville Mercieca told The Malta Independent on Sunday.
In an interview with this newsroom, Mercieca said that the Union does not have full collective bargaining rights as, when negotiating, it does not have the deterrent of a strike, such as having the possibility of closing an office or limiting the opening hours of that office, if agreement is not reached. This, he said, puts police unions at a disadvantage when negotiating with government or police management when compared to other trade unions.
He said that the Union is not asking to be able to close police stations down or to tell police not to do their jobs, "as obviously people's safety and the security of the country must be ensured. We have families too, so we wouldn't want officers not to do their job as the country would end in chaos”. It is not in the Union’s interest to do that, he added.
What the Union is asking for, he said, is the right to hold limited strike actions when needed.
The actions the Malta Police Union takes are to send a message that something is wrong and not with the aim of not serving the public. "If we have the right to strike it would be to help our message to get across and it would be limited strike action.” He added that such limited actions are not ones that would affect the security of the country or of the people.
Currently, the law allows police unions to "negotiate conditions of employment and to participate in dispute resolution procedures of a conciliatory, mediatory, arbitral or judicial nature on behalf of the members of the disciplined force which it represents, but it shall not be entitled to take any other action in a disciplined force in contemplation or furtherance of a dispute".
Requests for meetings ignored
The Union had emailed the minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, Carmelo Abela, about the right to strike issue on 29 April and again on 30 August, asking to meet to discuss the topic. Mercieca said, however, that these requests were ignored. He said that the current legislation conflicts with certain international rights for unions.
He added that the Union even drafted a Legal Notice and sent it to the Prime Minister. "We didn't receive any acknowledgment, no information as to whether they are discussing it or not."
The Malta Police Union also notes that in several reports made about the situation in Malta by the European Public Service Union and the European Trade Union Institute, it was found that in Malta, the situation is not in conformity with Article 6(4) of the European Social Charter on the grounds that the absolute prohibition of the right to strike of the Police goes beyond the limits permitted by Article G of the Charter, he said.
When it comes to negotiating wages, improving the work environment or fixing up offices, the Union just doesn’t have the proper deterrent to ensure that it is seriously listened to, he said.
He gave the example of four officers who work in a 32sq.m. office which contains six desks, a kitchenette, files dating back five years and also sees them meet with members of the public. "We can't tell those officers not to enter that room, even though we see it as a safety hazard, as that would be strike action. They have already had to quarantine three or four times."
What kind of strike action?
He was asked to provide examples as to what limited strike action would look like.
"There would be, for example, certain offices where the employees would work 80% of the day instead of the whole day. The public would still be able to be served. Another option would be for those employees to work slow. But obviously a differentiation would be made depending on the type of work the police officer does, between for example, officers in police stations, police officers in trades or who work in the kitchen and police officers who work in offices. So we would not be able to issue a go-slow order to everyone. A go-slow order for police officers, who work in certain offices would work, but it would not be used for district officers as a quick reaction to a phone call could save a life."
"It would be limited to certain groups. You cannot have the Counter-Terrorism Unit, the Rapid Intervention Unit or the Major Crimes Unit involved in a strike action for instance. But having the community police, police mechanics or certain offices go slow won't make a big difference to the country," he said.
"We would just use it to help send our message. We cannot continue on the wages we have, cannot have officers working in the current office environment they are in and cannot have the number of police officers reduced.” This year, according to information provided by the same Police Force, there are 222 fewer district police officers than there were last year, he said.
Asked about if the police unions have the ability to take some action, referring to the Union having told officers not to conduct inspections in buildings unless they were offered the booster shot, he explained that the Union has the ability to take minimal actions as part of a registered dispute. These actions attack generally internal policies. A strike action would mean that the service, which one is obliged to give is not given or given partially in a way which affects the citizens or a solidarity strike by or through another union, he said.
"We told officers not to enter bars, restaurants and buildings (licensed premises) if they had not been offered the booster shot as it was a safety hazard for them, while at the same time there are other authorities that have the power to conduct that work such as the MTA and health officers. This instruction did not apply if someone was in danger or calling for help of course, and so public safety and national security was not interrupted." The inspections he is referring to by officers are not of an ex officio type, where, while on patrols, the officers would opt to enter the premises of their own initiative on the route to check if licenses are paid, he said.
He said that many of the officers have now been given the booster shot, adding that four days after the directive, a large percentage of the Force had been offered and took the shot.
Mercieca said that there are not enough police officers in the country. Some would argue that police have less on their plate now than in the 1990s, as back then the police handled vehicle licensing, ID cards and more, he said. In terms of police numbers, there wasn't much of a difference between the 90s and now, he added. "In 1988 for example, there were 689 district police officers. In 2000 there were 828, in 2018 we had 1,058 and in October this year, there were 813."
He said that nowadays more units were set up and some units have become more specialised. Crime now is more complex, he said, meaning that officers in certain departments are a lot more specialised because of this and so more officers are required to tackle certain types of crime than were needed in the past. This is why more officers and technical people are needed, he said.
The Union agrees with attracting more civilians to work certain jobs within the Police Force. "But by bringing in 120 is not enough for instance. It is a process that takes time." He said that in the past there have been civilians within the Force and the administration also did other things, like introduce part-time police officers "but they are not joining in the quantities we need. They will not come with the wages and working conditions we have".
Unattractive wages
Asked why not enough people want to become police officers, he blamed it on the wage. "Police constables start on Scale 14 (between €16,361 to €18,262 a year). After two years they rise to Scale 13; then to Scale 12. After 12 years, they can rise to Scale 11 (between €19,974-€22,225 a year). You may ask, why don't they advance in rank? Every rank is a profession and some officers are content in that particular job and might want to remain in that profession, giving that service.”
"Should these officers also have certain allowances like a work mobile phone, rather than always using their own?"
Some ranks (like inspectors) have their mobile service paid, he said.
“What about possible vouchers for gyms? There is a gym at Ta' Kandja but one doesn't expect someone from Marsaxlokk or Ghadira to travel there after a long shift. In addition there isn’t enough room for all officers.”
Asked whether the Union intends to talk to government about these issues, he said: "We can discuss with government, but the two-way communication doesn't really exist. We would send a request to meet with our minister and there would be no reply. We sent emails to minister Abela to speak about the strike issue on 29 April and 30 August, but still we haven’t received an acknowledgment.”
But these things are negotiated in Sectoral Agreements and the new one will start being negotiated around 2024, he said. He hopes that management will agree to start talks quickly around that period. "There was a structure agreed upon by government and unions, with its good and bad, and you cannot go back to change things in between."
“The constable issue is on our minds for this, as are allowances. For example, there is an anomaly where everyone in the Force has a Special Duty Allowance, except for District Police.”
Training
Asked whether there is enough training for police officers, he said "it is never enough. The more knowledgeable someone is, the better it is for both that person and the people they help".
He said that there are sections being offered good training "which we never would have dreamt of having. Advancements have been made". He mentioned the simulator as one example, training against domestic violence as another, as well as forensics. "A jump in quality was made."
The problem, however, is that there are some sections, like district and community police officers, who are involved in anything that happens. "They are the front-liners in the localities." There are other sections as well, he said. These officers need training which may not be as specialised, he added. "Unfortunately, the resources the Force has do not allow such specialised training. It just doesn't have the resources to do it. To conduct such training, they would also need to pull officers from duty and they cannot afford to remove officers from a district to train them. In addition, to specialise to that degree might end up being a waste of resources as the country is quite safe, thanks to the work of the Police Force. At the same time, as a Union we look at situations where, when something happens to a member, they need to be prepared.”
Asked what type of training he has in mind, he said that every officer undertakes a service course at the academy. But until they undertake a refresher course, quite a bit of time passes.
The refresher courses need to be held more frequently and be more real, he said. "I'm not saying the courses aren't good, but they could be better. It is not the fault of the Force but rather it just doesn't have the resources or the people to do that."
No complaints of interference
Asked whether he has received complaints from officers regarding interference from politicians in their investigations, he said that he has not, but added that it would not be in the Union’s remit. “As far as I know we haven't received any such complaints." He also said that he, personally, when he was working as a constable, sergeant and inspector, prior to taking up his post in the Union, never had politicians interfere in his investigations or tell him who to prosecute or not.
"Now if a politician threatened to fire an officer, if that officer investigated a file, then that officer might come to us to stand up for them.”
The Malta Police Union had previously taken issue with a circular, issued by the Police Commissioner, imposing that non-uniformed members are obliged to shave their beard, under the threat of disciplinary action for non-compliance. The Union had issued a trade dispute over this issuing a number of directives, saying members can sport a beard, as long as it is well-groomed and that hair may be dyed (not conspicuous colours like blue or green). Mercieca has also dyed his hair in solidarity.
The issue began when the Commissioner had given special permission to a uniformed officer to grow a beard. Mercieca said that the law does not allow the Commissioner to grant such a special permission. "In truth it doesn't make a difference if an officer has a beard or not."
The Union believes that the uncleanliness section should remain in the law, but that it should allow for groomed beards on uniformed officers.