GWU registers dispute with Enemalta
The General Workers’ Union has registered an industrial dispute with Enemalta and warned the corporation that its failure to observe an agreement on the payment of allowances could lead to industrial action.
The union said the allowances are due to Credit Control Section employees, who are responsible for the collection of overdue water and electricity payments.
The union said that the fact that the corporation was not honouring the agreement was a clear sign of its incompetence and inefficiency. It failure was also demotivating the employees.
Workers at this section did their utmost to meet targets and in October managed to recover more than €5.5 million in arrears for the corporation, the union said.
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Jeremy J Camilleri
Nov 22nd 2008, 10:03
Teachers- Dispute
Nurses- Dispute
Radiographers-DIspute
Enemalta-Dispute
And the list goes on and on..... And yet...the blue eyed zombies take ALL the different unions to task....Lets admit it...Something is very very wrong here.....
Mario Busuttil
Nov 22nd 2008, 08:24
For those who want to know about this section the employees do an extra work,because they are inspectors plus carrying these duties.Do you know how people react when they go to collect credits that are enemalta arrears and when they warn them to cut electricity if they remain not to pay their bills.I am an enemalta employee ,if my salary will be twice as much as their salary i will refuce to do that job,it is risky for themselves ,also their job is to see where to see the tefth of electricity,than some of here has the explanation of their duties,the aggreements dosen't fall from heaven when unions agree of salaries.
Anthony Briffa
Nov 22nd 2008, 07:36
This is very nice. No wonder Enemalta is in such a financial situation. Since when the employees of any organization expect additional compensation for doing what they are expected to do during their working hours. GWU please get serious and don't continue to spoil the workers anymore. Besides looking after the interest of its members a real union is bound to ensure that the workers give a full and productive day's work for the salary they receive. The GWU has not learnt any lessons from the drydocks pantomine. With its attitude there Malta is over one billion euros poorer.
George Cremona
Nov 22nd 2008, 00:02
By registering a dispute with Enemalta for not paying such allowances, the GWU is encouraging inefficiency, something for which the same GWU had recently demonised the Corporation and the Government on the introduction of the new water and electricity tariffs!!!
Ethelbert Schembri
Nov 21st 2008, 22:41
To all
This is an agreement that forms part of a whole restructuring program within all Enemalta structures . This was done to improve efficiency and to accommodate the client to the full . There is an incentive because the employees in that particular section have to perform a number of duties that are not listed in their job description, with specific targets set by the management.
The sum of money in question is a small one and has to be divided by around thirty (30) employees after achieving the targets.
The problem with this agreement are lots of misunderstandings by who is responsible to run the section and the employees .
So don’t run in to conclusions, if no one knows what is happening it is better to shut up !
The management and the union are doing a hard job to restructure the Enemalta Corp . This is done to delineate the future structure of the business of the corporation and to compensate to the inefficiencies that are coming by the always ageing plant and not by the employees .
Joseph E Briffa
Nov 21st 2008, 20:37
Allowances for what? for doing your work? This is quite strange..do establishments have to pay allowances to their employees to motivate them to carry out their duties? Allowances are given to do something which is beyond the call of duty, or to carry out dangerous works, or to work in a hazardous environment. Issuing bills and collecting overdue payments do not fall into these categories as far as I know. Is this a similar situation to that of the drydocks where overtime work and payment of allowances used to be resorted to until they became the norm and this at a time when the establishment was making heavy losses? If the financial situation at Enemalta is far from healthy, can the Corporation afford these luxuries? Let's not forget that labour costs are part of the components of the cost of production of energy, Trimming labour costs is part of the exercise of lowering production costs.
Edmund Curmi
Nov 21st 2008, 20:10
@ E Gatt
Re roll on the privatisation of the Gas and Fuel Divisions!! Will you remain of the same opinion once the gas price goes up? Yes roll on the so-called privatisation (which will remain a monoply incidentally) and let the fat cats get richer and richer!
michael fenech
Nov 21st 2008, 19:10
@ Joe Vella and all his little elves.
Can't you see that all these poeple are asking for is what GonziPN government had agreed to pay.
Do we still honour agreements in this PN democratic country?????????????
I.Scicluna
Nov 21st 2008, 19:04
It is unbelievable to what extent some anti-workers will go to!
That Enemalta is inefficient is a given that EVERYONE know of. If workers and their representatives negotiated and obtained these allowances then the agreement HAS to be honoured.
Production will never be increased with the use of the "whip" or "stick",; initiative and remuneration are the key.
Better if you cry FOUL on Enemalta than the workers.
Phil Press
Nov 21st 2008, 17:45
Winter is upon us !. what better time, to threaten industrial action. Is it not bad enough that we have. all the extortionate surcharges to pay. But the chance of no electric, at all. Things can only get better ??????????.
Flavio Cassar
Nov 21st 2008, 17:42
@Louis Muscat, E. Gatt and J. Farrugia
Now don't start mixing the hass with the qaraghbali. An agreement is an agreement and is binding on whoever signs on the dotted lines. Privatisation, the scandalous tariffs, improving productivity etc are all important topics but totally separate from issues from the payment of agrred allowances.
Jeremy J Camilleri
Nov 21st 2008, 17:27
"@Jfarrugia...No..Shame on you, if you believe that any past agreement should not be honoured.
The Government signed an agreement less than a year ago, so if it could not have afforded the allowance, why sign the agreement?
Are you so anti the common worker that you believe that even rights that their employer has agreed to are not theirs to enjoy?
E Gatt: Are you sure that the GWU is not working with the management to increase productivity?
Being such an expert on industrial relations, could you tell us exactly how you came to this brilliant conclusion...On the other hand, if you're just someone who has no idea what he is writing about, and just wanted to have fun on a blog, well, that could be forgiven then.
Louis Muscat: First of all, if really read the news, 20 unions, and not just the GWU.
As for the high water tariffs, if you had kept yourself updated, you would have realised that the Government has used up a myriad of excuses to explain Enemalta losses...and..well....Allowances to these workers were not on eof them....sorry...
Carmel Vella
Nov 21st 2008, 17:27
Shame on the Govt for givng such allowances when Enemalta was bankrupt.
Sorry I take it all back as I forgot , that only in Malta pre-election exigencies take priority over everything else including common sense.
Joe Vella
Nov 21st 2008, 17:09
Is this the same Union that negotiated on behalf of ONE PRODUCTIONS EMPLOYEES to be paid siegha b'siegh for overtime when everybody else was being paid time and a half.
Shame on the GWU.
raphael stafrace
Nov 21st 2008, 17:09
mr farrugia
what is wrong to get allowances for dong your work.dont ceo"s,general managers,corporate managers,directors and a lot of overheads do get them.and i think to give allowances to the latter is more than a scandal because these WORKERS have shamful salaries.why is that if a lower tier worker gets something extra he is criticized?from these page i urge the credit control section to work electricity bills to those feast hawkers have have not payed their bills for quiet some time.most of them are awaiting bills for over 3 years
C.Camilleri
Nov 21st 2008, 17:07
Is this the way how to remove the inefficiency and bureaucracy at Enemalta? Is this one of the solutions that the GWU offered to the Govt ? The truth is coming out. The trouble with Enemalta is the old work practices which are defended by the GWU . Whenever the management of Enemalta tried to improve the situation it always found a concrete wall built by the GWU.
lgalea
Nov 21st 2008, 17:01
Louis Muscat et al
It is seeking to make EneMalta abide to what had been agreed to. Or is it now also wrong for the GWU to seek the implementation of what had been agreed?
Have any of you read what had been agreed before posting your comments?
It does not appears so.
Louis Muscat
Nov 21st 2008, 16:55
And then the GWU complains about the high W & E. tariffs
E Gatt
Nov 21st 2008, 16:52
The joy of state-run entities!
The GWU should instead be working with management to improve productivity and possibly early retirement schemes.
Roll on privatisation of the Gas and Fuel sections at Enemalta!
J Farrugia
Nov 21st 2008, 16:39
Am I to understand that these want allowances for doing their work?? It's a scandal, a shame!!!! And shame on the GWU for allowing this to occur.