Negotiations over three issues affecting nursing aides, health assistants and care workers will be suspended "until the General Workers' Union is awarded sole recognition" for nursing aides, union section secretary Louis Marsh told The Times yesterday.

Mr Marsh said that if the union's Friday deadline for a response to the demand was not met, "we will reconsider our position".

He claimed the vast majority of nursing aides were members of the GWU and that the union also represented the majority of care workers and health assistants.

When contacted, health director general John Cachia said internal consultations between the health authorities and the Office of the Prime Minister regarding union recognition were underway.

The union suspended talks last week after the health division concluded an agreement with the Union Haddiema Maghqudin. The GWU said it had been kept in the dark about this agreement.

Talks between the GWU and the government revolved around the union's requests for nursing aides' right to wage scale 13, the roster and a premium allowance for the three categories.

Following 12 days of industrial action - during which nursing aides, health assistants and care workers were ordered to do only food-related jobs - talks between the GWU and the government resumed last month before being suspended again yesterday week.

Mr Marsh said discussions had been progressing positively. "We met on two occasions in a very good atmosphere and discussed the pending issues, but have not reached an agreement," he said adding that there was a basis on which to continue discussions.

However, he continued, once the agreement with the UHM was reached, the union decided to suspend talks and separate issues of the dispute and recognition.