Enemalta workers urged to stand firm as proposal to end dispute is made

GWU General Secretary Tony Zarb said today that the union had made a proposal to Enemalta aimed at ending a dispute which has seen the workers refusing to use the SAP management information system.

The dispute arose over the redeployment of 12 workers of the Credit Control Unit.

Mr Zarb said that the union had proposed a new position within which the workers could be assimilated.

He urged the workers at an early morning meeting to stay united and said the directives - which Enemalta said last week could be very damaging – was being followed by all workers.

Mr Zarb also complained at the meeting at Marsa that the corporation had still not said what would happen to the Marsa power station workers once the old power station was decommissioned. The union, he said, would seek an urgent reply in order to ensure that the workers had peace of mind.

General Workers’ Union section secretary Jason Deguara last week spoke of fears that downsizing currently being discussed at Air Malta would also happen at Enemalta as reports were being drawn up to see how many workers were required in the coming years.

He said the corporation was currently evaluating its staff requirements once the new extension to the Delimara Power Station and the interconnector to Sicily came on stream.

“I fear that what is happening at Air Malta will also happen at Enemalta in the near future. We already have problems with the transfer of certain employees from one department to another,” he said, referring to the directives issued last week.

Mr Deguara said the issue revolved around the reorganisation of the corporation’s customer care and compliance office.

Last year, when the corporation was reorganising its office space, 12 employees from this department were transferred to the same section at the Water Services Corporation pending the amalgamation of these two departments with ARMS Ltd, the new revenue collector for the two corporations.

When the office project was concluded and the workers were being transferred back, the company’s chief executive wrote to the employees in question on March 15 last year, saying: “I would like to assure you that this move in no way affects your position within the corporation and your option to join ARMS as your roles will remain the same.”

However, Mr Deguara said, although ARMS Ltd was recruiting personnel, employees within Enemalta’s finance department were told they could not join the new revenue-collection company. Instead they were offered alternative employment within the corporation.

Among the positions being offered, he said, was head of Enemalta’s fire section.

“It is inconceivable how a person who spent years collecting money and chasing people to pay their bills is now told to head the fire section, with all the risks this entrails. We do not agree with this redeployment,” he said.