Take it or leave it, employees are being told

STMicroelectronics workers feel "forced and threatened" to accept austerity measures being proposed by the company, a worker said yesterday on his way to work.

ST workers, talking to The Times during their change of shift, have been walking in and out of their workplace with a heavy heart ever since the company proposed tight austerity measures on its employees.

The measures are a condition the company has made to continue operating in Malta after it reached an investment agreement with the government.

A store attendant, 36, felt the workers were being made to accept the measures "whether they liked it or not". According to him, the idea being given to the employees during meetings was that if they did not accept the company's proposals, ST would cut down further through job shedding and loss of benefits.

Last April, the largest private seA 29-year-old operator said at the end of the day, they were really being forced to accept the package. "It's like they're telling us we either have to accept the measures or else leave work," she said. The frustrated employee also complained that not all shifts would be shouldering the same burden. "Everyone should suffer equally," she said.

A package presented to workers on June 23 proposes, among other measures, withholding salary and seniority increases until December 2012, freezing shift allowances at €13.97 per week, removal of the Saturday and Sunday night shift allowance and new employees starting at the minimum wage over the next two years.

A few workers said they were hopeful some sacrifice now would reap rewards in the long term.

"It's a tough decision and it seems like we'll have to do something we don't want to, however, I feel we need to look further ahead and keep in mind the long-term benefits to both us and the company," a 46-year-old store attendant said. He confessed that, after 28 years working at the same company, it would be very hard to start afresh.

A shipping officer painted the picture perfectly by using a Maltese proverb: Aħjar għasfur f'idejk milli mija fl-ajru, that is, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. According to the 40-year-old worker, the employees were being told in private meetings that if they did not accept the measures, they would lose their job.

Last year, the multinational company downsized its workforce in Malta by about 400 employees after facing worldwide difficulties and there were fears for the company's future.

The microelectronics company is not only the largest private sector employer but also Malta's leading exporter.