The ongoing mismanagement at Transport Malta, particularly concerning calls for vacancies and internal calls for promotions, is creating various injustices, flagrant discrimination among workers, breaches of the Collective Agreement, and violations of the Legal Notice that Robert Abela proudly proclaimed before the European Parliament and Local Council elections, the Nationalist Party said Tuesday.

This Legal Notice was intended to introduce the principle of Equal Pay for Equal Work, it added

These issues were highlighted during a press conference in front of Transport Malta's Head Office in Ħal Lija by Shadow Minister for Transport Mark Anthony Sammut and Shadow Minister for Social Dialogue Ivan Castillo. 

Mark Anthony Sammut stated that it is evident once again that this supposedly independent and regulatory authority is being used for partisan political interests, to the detriment of honest and competent workers. These workers are being bypassed or unable to perform their duties properly because individuals who lack competence are being placed in more senior positions than them, solely to serve the interests of the Labour Party or the Minister. 

Several shortcomings by the authority were identified, including: 

• Workers who have been with Transport Malta since it was the Authority for Transport (ADT) before 2013 are supposed to be entitled to pre-retirement leave when they retire, under the same conditions as civil servants, as stipulated in the Collective Agreement. Many of these workers, who are nearing retirement, have reported that the Authority is making it difficult for them to receive their full entitlement. In some cases, it seems their leave entitlement has even been halved. Why? Is it true that Transport Malta is failing to honour the agreement because it has lost the data and information of these workers?
• A large number of vacancy calls have been issued - dozens within a few months - with no consistent standards for the required qualifications. For instance, to recruit a Clerk through an external call, six O Levels and an ECDL qualification were required. Yet, in another external call issued shortly afterwards for an Executive position, which is four grades higher than the clerical one, five years of office experience sufficed.
• The same lack of standards and breaches of the Collective Agreement are evident in internal calls for Assistant Manager positions. The agreement stipulates that internal calls for Assistant Manager positions should be open to those who have been in the Executive grade for five years. Instead, calls have been issued requiring just three years in some cases, two in others, and six in others. Sometimes a degree is required; other times it is not. There are no consistent standards whatsoever.
• The inconsistencies are even more glaring in higher-grade positions, such as Director roles, which come with salaries higher than the Prime Minister's. Certain calls for these positions require only "experience" without any formal qualifications - not even an O Level - while others demand a Master's degree. Why are there such discrepancies? Why are the requirements for high-scale positions lower than those for positions four grades below? Is everything tailored to suit pre-selected individuals?

Castillo also spoke about how the authority is violating the Legal Notice on Equal Pay for Equal Work, which the Government boasted about and announced before the European Parliament and Local Council elections, though it came into force six months later on 1 January. 

He highlighted how external calls for vacancies bypass contractor employees, almost all Maltese, who have been performing the same roles at Transport Malta for years. 

According to Article 5 of Legal Notice 128 of last year, the Authority is required to inform these contractor employees of any vacancies it has, giving them "the same opportunity as other workers" directly employed by the Authority to secure permanent employment. 

Instead of adhering to this, not only is Transport Malta failing to inform these employees, but in certain cases, it is outright refusing to consider their applications, even though they are supposed to be given the same opportunity as in-house workers. 

This is a government that discriminates among workers, creates countless injustices, enacts laws only on paper, and has destroyed any sense of structure and progression that Transport Malta once had. 

A new Nationalist Government will reform the way this Authority operates and is structured to ensure it truly serves as a competent transport regulator in Malta, the PN said. Furthermore, it will ensure that every collective agreement with workers is respected and will address all injustices currently being perpetrated by this Government for partisan.

Transport Malta replies

In reply, Transport Malta said it refused all allegations of discrimination and confirms that it follows the law, saying it is not in breach of the equal pay for equal work legislation.

In 2024, it concluded collective agreements that improved conditions.

It said that it did not want to become part of political issues and it is unfortunate that the agency ended up being the subject of a press conference during which untruthful allegations were made.