Another appeal made for police to be allowed to join union

The General Workers Union and the Police Association wondered this afternoon why the police had not yet been given the right to join a union if there was consensus on the matter.

In a meeting, GWU secretary Tony Zarb appealed to the authorities to clear the issue as soon as possible especially since there seems to be consensus on the matter between the government and opposition.

He said that in a recent meeting in the presence of Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, Police Commissioner John Rizzo, and Opposition spokesman for justice Michael Fazlon, no one spoke against the idea.

He said the GWU was ready to offer its services and even offered the police association the opportunity to join the GWU as an associate member.

Last week, a number of people working in detention centres, most of whom were former policemen, joined the GWU, he said.

Police Association president Dennis Agius said the association had long been calling for status as a union and had given up the right to strike.

The association had meetings with the government and the opposition but despite a consensus nothing was being done to unionise disciplinary corps.

The meeting continued behind closed doors.