GWU demands meeting with authorities

The government has called on the General Workers' Union to suspend industrial action in state hospitals, homes for the elderly and health centres, but the union said it would only call off the directives on the day a meeting is held with the authorities.

Union section secretary Louis Marsh said the GWU had been in contact with the Office of the Prime Minister, asking for a meeting at the earliest.

He told a press conference that the union would call off the directives and put them on hold from the day of the meeting and for a reasonable period to enable the two parties to reach an acceptable solution.

It would expect the government to withdraw its "retaliatory" measures, which include putting a stop to long leave and time off in lieu.

Last Friday the GWU ordered nursing aides, health assistants and care workers at hospitals and homes for the elderly to only do food-related jobs, including handing out breakfast, tea and coffee.

Part of the job of those following directives entails assisting nurses to wash and change patients and help them out of bed. St Vincent de Paul was the worst affected because of the high number of bedridden patients, spurring the government to call on relatives to give a helping hand.

Mr Marsh admitted that there have been negative consequences for patients, saying that every action is taken to have an impact and bring about a solution. He said the work was still being done, but was taking longer to be performed.

This was reiterated by Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses president Paul Pace, who said nurses were bending over backward to make sure that patients were not suffering unnecessarily. But he added that the actions were having a huge impact on the nurses, who were becoming worn-out.

Speaking to The Times, Mr Pace emphasised that all patients at St Vincent de Paul Residence were being washed, changed and given their medication. Nurses were working doubly hard to ensure that all patients were washed and changed, but it had not been possible to get all of them out of bed.

The union also ordered nursing aides, care workers and health assistants working within St Luke's Hospital's outpatient department and health centres not to process medical files or X-Rays, while health centre employees are not taking appointments.

The union also said it would boycott any strike breakers. Mr Marsh explained that this meant the other workers in that ward would not do any work while the strike breaker was in the room, and this had been exercised on at least one occasion.

He said there were union members who were following the directives but who still did their job in an emergency situation.

The union ordered directives because of three issues - nursing aides' claimed right to wage scale 13, disagreement over their roster and their demand for a premium allowance for the three categories.

In a statement last night, the Ministry of Health said it is prepared to fix a date for a meeting as soon as the GWU withdraws its directives.

This is how things are done according to industrial relations practice, the ministry said.

The ministry added that it was awaiting the discussions to continue so that patients won't suffer any longer.