Enemalta urges GWU to negotiate

Enemalta has invited the General Workers’ Union to immediately withdraw the industrial action it has ordered and proceed with talks.

The GWU had declared an industrial dispute with Enemalta accusing the corporation of planning to transfer the work done by its employees in the Credit Control Section to a contractor.

Enemalta expressed its “utter surprise” at the industrial action announced by the GWU given that the corporation had complied with all commitments agreed to with the union following discussions on January 22. Surprisingly, the union issued directives to its members two weeks after the meeting.

Enemalta also accused the GWU of being inconsistent in its position. It urged the union to pursue with meaningful dialogue instead of resorting to industrial action.

Enemalta said it was significant that the union had ordered industrial action five times over the last 12 month period on issues related to the Credit Control Section, which was composed of nine employees.

It said the union failed to abide by the collective agreement and to first seek resolution through the Director, Department of Industrial and Employment Relations through conciliation before proceeding with issuing directives.

The GWU believes that the move to transfer the section was an additional expense on the corporation because the work could be done by the corporation’s own staff.

It was also in contrast to claims by people in the Nationalist Party that part of the corporation’s losses were due to the number of workers employed with the corporation.