Selmun Palace Hotel workers ‘sacrificed’

Patrick Ebejer has been working for 30 years at the Selmun Palace Hotel but today will be the last time he punches in for work after being served a redundancy notice on Friday.

In his early fifties and the father of four children, Mr Ebejer protested in Valletta yesterday along with another 57 employees asking government to honour its pledge that the hotel workers will not end up without a job.

“I wish to meet the Prime Minister face to face. I want him to speak to us. He is a father as well and I am sure he can understand our situation. We were promised work and now we are being made redundant,” an emotional Mr Ebejer told The Times at the end of the protest outside the Office of the Prime Minister in Castille.

On Friday Selmun Palace Hotel workers were handed their redundancy notices by the general manager, bringing to an abrupt end the uncertainty they have had to bear for the past seven months.

The hotel is a subsidiary of Air Malta and has been making losses, which the airline wants to curb. The hotel operation has been stopped and the airline hopes to sell off the building to part-finance its own restructuring.

Workers believe they are being used as a sacrificial lamb and feel cheated since they will not be given the chance to apply for the voluntary redundancy schemes that will be issued next week for Air Malta employees.

“We want work but at the least we expect to be treated like the rest of Air Malta workers. It hurts to know that Air Malta chief executive Peter Davies told employees that the sale of Selmun would finance the restructuring,” Mr Ebejer said.

His thoughts were echoed by Godwin Farrugia, a father of three children who has been working at Selmun for 27 years.

Mr Farrugia’s young children were present for the protest holding up a placard with the words: “He deceived my father” (Daħak b’missieri).

The reference was to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi as head of a government that promised hotel workers that their jobs would be safeguarded.

“We gave our best to the hotel. We have been without a wage rise for 14 years and accepted to have overtime paid at a reduced rate. We did our part and this is the thank you we got,” Mr Farrugia said.

The workers walked to Castille Place from the General Workers’ Union headquarters holding placards and shouting slogans directed at the government and the Prime Minister.

Addressing the workers and some family members on the steps of Castille, GWU general secretary Tony Zarb said the Prime Minister had to shoulder responsibility for the situation.

He said that a potential investor who wanted to invest €52 million in the hotel and keep the workers had a meeting with Finance Minister Tonio Fenech on Friday after insistence from the union.

“We expect the outcome of the meeting to be made public, especially after the Prime Minister’s declaration yesterday (Sunday) that the government wanted to sell Selmun as a hotel,” Mr Zarb said.

He urged Dr Gonzi not to be insensitive and listen to the message workers wanted to deliver.

“Nobody will deceive you and the GWU will continue fighting for justice to be done,” Mr Zarb said to rousing applause.

John Bencini, the president of trade union grouping Forum, and Labour Party spokesman Gavin Gulia walked in solidarity with the protesters. Left-wing group Żminijietna – Voice of the Left also joined the protest.