The General Workers’ Union has accused Heritage Malta of awarding security contracts at very low rates, to the detriment of the employment market.

The union said that this was damaging the security industry at large and was particularly detrimental to security employees, particularly those who had given a service to Heritage Malta prior to this decision.

The GWU said the livelihood of employees had been further threatened as Heritage Malta had not taken initiatives to facilitate the transfer of business to ensure that employees who previously provided the service were taken up by the new contractors.

It challenged security services providers to publicly explain how a security company could sustain properly employed full-time staff on tenders awarded at rates similar to the one issued by Heritage Malta.

“The union is yet to be convinced that this is possible as all experts in the field and all calculations show that a regularly employed person and all additional costs would exceed the tender award prices.”

It appealed to the Department of Employment and Industrial Relations to be proactive to ensure that the employment law was implemented and ensure that employment conditions were respected.

It deplored initiatives by local security companies to evade employment legislation jeopardising the already minimal conditions enjoyed by security employees.