GWU will protest but not strike on Air Malta

The General Workers’ Union will join the protest “in favour of Air Malta” on Friday but will not participate in the pilots’ strike which could take place on Saturday.

In a statement issued yesterday, general secretary Tony Zarb called on all sides to meet and find solutions to the current disputes before Wednesday, which is when the pilots say they will take their final decision about whether or not to ground all flights on Saturday.

Mr Zarb said it would be best to resolve the matter and avoid calling a strike.

The Association of Airline Engineers and the Union of Cabin Crew have both said they do not agree with the strike action. But while the engineers will also be shunning the protest, the other two unions will be marching alongside the pilots in Valletta on Friday.

Airline Pilots Association president Dominic Azzopardi on Saturday said the final decision over whether to strike depends on whether the government will present “in black and white” its plans on how to tackle the issue of airport charges and low-cost airlines, which they blame for Air Malta’s financial woes.

He also acknowledged that the other unions were wary of the strike because they feared the government may use it as an excuse to shut down the airline.

“The government will not shut it down but it has to declare whether there is an agenda to privatise Air Malta. We do not want to strike but it cannot be that the company’s finances are being drained by lucrative contracts with third parties including Malta International Airport and that workers are expected to carry the can,” Mr Azzopardi said, insisting that the other unions knew they were right.

Members of the pilot’s association have already voted overwhelmingly to approve strike action.

The protest will be held in Valletta at 6 p.m. and will proceed from St George’s Square to Castille.

In his press statement, Mr Zarb also corrected reports which said that in a press conference on Saturday he said the new Air Malta CEO Peter Davies spent four days a week out of the country.

In fact, it was Forum President John Bencini who said Mr Davies was not in Malta Fridays to Mondays, during the press conference.