Mintoff summons sacked GWU official

Ousted General Workers' Union section secretary Josephine Attard Sultana met former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff for over an hour on Monday evening after being summoned to his home in Tarxien.

Ms Attard Sultana confirmed the meeting, also attended by other people, took place but declined to say what had been discussed.

However, sources said Mr Mintoff wanted to hear first hand what had happened. He expressed surprise at the move to remove her and was concerned about how the situation had developed.

Ms Attard Sultana and Francis Buttigieg, section secretary and president of the public service section respectively, were sacked by the GWU after the union's council approved a motion for their dismissal.

Ms Attard Sultana and Mr Buttigieg have filed an internal appeal against their removal and are waiting to hear who will sit on the appeal board.

She told a press conference last week that in spite of her appeal, GWU general secretary Tony Zarb has asked the government to provide someone to replace her.

Ms Attard Sultana had been seconded to the GWU from the public sector on the basis of public policy. The government provides trade unions with an employee if they have over 2,000 members and larger unions can have up to two seconded staff members.