UHM suspends directives at Maltapost

The strike action ordered at Maltapost by the Union Haddiema Maghqudin was suspended yesterday after a conciliation meeting.

Postmen had been instructed to refrain from distributing voting documents for next month's local council elections as from yesterday. This was one in a series of directives by the union which came into effect at about 7.30 a.m. yesterday.

Other directives included not replying to phone calls, e-mails or faxes, and for courier workers not to collect any money. Senior administrators were also directed not to relay to the management any information about the industrial action. The UHM said it was satisfied with the employees' response to the union directives even if, according to Maltapost, the postal service was back to normal at 10 a.m. when all employees resumed their duties.

Maltapost said yesterday "both parties agreed to a way forward" at a conciliation meeting held in the morning at the office of the Director of Labour and Industrial Relations.

The UHM had ordered the action over the management's insistence on a number of clauses in the collective agreement, which, the union said, led to deterioration in workers' conditions. The union said it suspended industrial action at Maltapost after the management withdrew its collective agreement proposals at yesterday's meeting.

The union said another meeting will be held tomorrow in the presence of the Director of Labour and Industrial Relations.