UĦM industrial dispute with Go
'Employees have no idea which direction the company is going'
The Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin has registered an industrial dispute with Go plc (ex-Maltacom) and Go Mobile, warning it will take the necessary steps to safeguard the interests of its members who are in a state of "great uncertainty".
The union said it has requested a meeting with the Prime Minister to explain the situation the employees were facing.
Over the last months, the union said it was making representations over the precarious situation employees of Go plc and Go Mobile are in and has concluded that they were experiencing uncertainty about their future.
Many employees and their families had no idea which direction the company was going when, over the last few days, a voluntary retirement scheme was aimed at a specific category of workers.
A letter by Go plc to the workers said it was the last scheme to be offered and that if the goals in down-sizing were not reached, the exercise would be carried out according to law, the union said.
The UĦM has been working to discuss a collective agreement for Go Mobile employees.
The General Workers' Union, the recognised union at Go plc, in a statement, clarified that a collective agreement for the company's employees already existed up to December 2009. It would, therefore, not accept that the collective agreement be changed or tampered with, without the consent of the workers.
The GWU maintained that if the UĦM had industrial problems with Go Mobile it should address these issues with the Go Mobile management and not involve the workers of other companies that were not involved in the dispute.
The early retirement schemes were always open to the Go plc workers, but not to Go Mobile workers, so much so that, in the coming days, the GWU is meeting with the Go plc workers to inform them of the scheme and its implications on their future employment.
The UĦM should not continue with manoeuvres that only serve to divide the workers, the GWU said.