The General Workers' Union has registered an industrial dispute with ST Microelectronics after the two sides failed to reach agreement on the revision of the employees' collective agreement.
The GWU said the last agreement expired two years ago. Negotiations had been suspended for some time in view of a restructuring exercise during which the company was proposing to shed 3,000 workers from its plants in various European countries. The suspension was meant to allow the future of the employees at the Malta plant to become clearer.
Warning about the possibility of industrial action, the union said the Director of Labour and Industrial Relations, Noel Vella, was informed about the situation.