A steering committee incorporating all the unions represented at Air Malta will oversee the restructuring process at the national airline, according to the general secretary of the General Workers’ Union.
At the end of an hour-long meeting at the Finance Ministry, Tony Zarb said the union was given a detailed presentation by auditors Ernst and Young on the financial situation at Air Malta.
During the meeting, the government did not spell out its proposals for reform and all sides kept silent on the contents of the audit firm’s presentation.
Mr Zarb said the four unions with official recognition at Air Malta – the GWU and unions representing pilots, cabin crew and engineers – had contacted each other informally. It is unclear whether the unions would eventually go to the talks with one voice as had happened in the restructuring exercise of 2004.
Unions were called in for separate meetings at the Finance Ministry yesterday and briefed about the dire financial situation at Air Malta by Ernst and Young, the government’s consultants on the restructuring exercise.
The back-to-back meetings were attended by Finance Minister Tonio Fenech, Air Malta chairman Sonny Portelli and the auditors.
The Union Ħaddiema Magħ-qudin, which has a number of members at Air Malta but no official recognition, also had a meeting with the government.
UĦM general secretary Gejtu Vella said that, although the union did not enjoy recognition and would not be taking a lead role, it wanted to be kept informed of developments.
Alternattiva Demokratika urged all stakeholders at Air Malta to achieve a balance between “sustainability, workers’ rights and the strategic importance of the airline”.
AD chairman Michael Briguglio said the airline had been used by successive governments as an electoral tool to employ people for reasons that had nothing to do with economic viability.
He pointed out that management failed to make the company viable even after all Air Malta workers signed a memorandum in 2004 which included wage freezes and, in certain instances, deductions.
“We are four-square behind government negotiations with the EU which defend the strategic importance of the airline while conforming to EU policy on efficiency,” Mr Briguglio said, referring to ongoing government negotiations with Brussels to secure approval for state aid.
The series of talks on Air Malta’s restructuring started on Monday when President George Abela chaired a meeting bet-ween Mr Fenech and a Labour Party delegation headed by Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat and which included former Air Malta chairman Louis Grech, now an MEP.