Air Malta's board decision to dismiss the 58 employees at the Selmun Palace Hotel was this evening deplored by the Union Haddiema Maghqudin.

In a statement, the UHM expressed solidarity with the workers and said it was convinced that the €13 million debt accumulated in the past year was not the workers' fault so they should not be made to pay for the wrong decisions which could have been taken in the past.

It said that as in the case of Air Malta, its official position was that workers should not lose their job. They should be given alternative employment by the government as had been done in the case of other enterprises where the government was majority shareholder.