Strike at Sedqa 'uncalled for'

The one-hour strike at Sedqa yesterday morning was "uncalled for", the agency's operations director Jean Claude Cardona told The Times.

Mr Cardona said a meeting scheduled for last Friday morning had to be postponed to today because some members of the management could not attend. He denied the claims made last week by the Union Haddiema Maghqudin that the reconciliatory meeting between the management of Sedqa and the UHM had been cancelled.

The strike was ordered by the union's public entities section secretary Jesmond Bonello arguing that the agency's management had not yet paid increments to the employees.

The strike was held between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. and Mr Bonello described it as a success saying all the workers had followed the directive. He said the section exempted from the strike those working in residences or who do work related to emergencies.

Mr Cardona said the strike still caused inconvenience to some clients who had appointments during that hour. He said the fact that the strike was one hour long meant that there could be some damage limitation.

He said the organisation was exercising its right to deduct an hour's pay in the case of those employees who took part in the strike.

The union registered an industrial dispute with Sedqa on February 1 and informed it of industrial action.

Mr Bonello said the union informed the management that further industrial action would follow if the increments were not paid.