Dairy company set for further losses

Industrial relations between Malta Dairy Products and the Union Haddiema Maghqudin are expected to remain sour as the dairy company heads for another abysmal financial year.

The Times has learnt that the company, which employs some 130 workers, is expected to register losses of about Lm500,000 for the second consecutive year.

Talks on a new collective agreement fell through following just two meetings after the MDP management turned down the union's demand for higher wages.

UHM section secretary Lino Vassallo is expected to meet the company's employees in the coming days to update them on the situation.

After threatening the management with a complete stoppage of milk production, Mr Vassallo said he had been informed that the company had put things in motion to avert any such action.

He claimed that a number of relatives and friends of milk producers had been given instant training to obtain a certificate in food handling, which would entitle them to act as strike breakers in case of industrial action.

"The management is taking it for granted that we are going on strike. It's very clear we've been given a take-it-or-leave-it offer," Mr Vassallo protested.

He maintained that the union had fully cooperated with the company as it embarked on a restructuring process to meet EU standards and face up to competition. Workers, likewise, have been extremely flexible in their jobs to keep the company afloat.

Mr Vassallo said he had been given no information as to what extent the payroll was affecting MDP's profits and claimed that despite competition from foreign products, MDP's market share was only down marginally.

But when contacted, Alfred Mallia Milanes, who is negotiating on behalf of MDP, painted a different picture of the market and appealed to the UHM to stop making unrealistic demands. "We have never closed the door to negotiations but the union has to realise the financial situation of the company," he said.

Competition meant that MDP could not afford to raise product prices and strains such as the cost of living increases and the surcharge made the UHM's demands untenable, the company argued.

Asked about the strike-breaking claim made by Mr Vassallo, Mr Mallia Milanes said he preferred not to comment on such an allegation.