People who work in Valletta have to incur an extra expense of about €520 a year because Arriva is now charging for the park-and-ride service, according to the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin.

The union said it had been discussing the matter with the government for several months but to no avail and was not excluding industrial action if things did not get better.

It said that when the park-and-ride started in 2007, the UĦM was instrumental for it to be free of charge. It later set up the Valletta public sector commuters’ committee composed of a government official, a representative of Transport Malta and a UĦM official. Among other things, the committee recommended a 50 per cent subsidy for the park-and-ride service or a reduction of the equivalent amount from tax due. Despite several meetings and an exchange of correspondence, the government continued to oppose the proposals.

The union said people working on reduced hours already declared they were considering resigning if they had to incur such expenses.