UHM retains Maltapost's sole recognition - CEO

Maltapost chief executive Robert W. Lake yesterday confirmed that the Union Haddiema Maghqudin enjoyed the company's sole recognition.

Earlier this month the General Workers' Union had registered an industrial dispute with Maltapost, claiming to represent the majority of workers and that it should therefore have sole recognition.

The GWU had warned it would not recognise any agreement being negotiated with the UHM, which itself claims the absolute majority of Maltapost workers for its members.

But Mr Lake is insisting that the company should conclude negotiations with the UHM as soon as possible

"I wish to confirm on behalf of Maltapost that UHM continues to retain sole recognition and I hope that this confirmation will enable us to move forward to conclude the collective agreement with urgency," he wrote yesterday in a letter to the UHM and the director of Industrial Relations and Employment.

The UHM said negotiations on the collective agreement were nearing the final phases.

The GWU had written to Maltapost earlier this month - eight months after the workers had opted to be represented by the UHM - claiming it could produce documentary evidence to show that it now represented more than half the workers. It had called on management to stop the talks being held with the other union.

But the UHM rebutted the GWU's claim and accused it of wanting to undermine the good work it was doing with Maltapost at a delicate stage in the negotiations over a new collective agreement.