Air talks must end

The Finance Minister is willing to meet the General Workers’ Union on Air Malta but warns that discussions on restructuring cannot continue “forever” and decisions have to be taken.

Tonio Fenech said he endorsed the course of action adopted by Air Malta’s management, which announced on Thursday it will be taking its restructuring proposals directly to employees after an impasse with the GWU and cabin crew union.

“Even though consultation will remain an important principle in the restructuring process, decisions have to be taken and discussions cannot continue forever,” Mr Fenech told The Sunday Times.

The risk of this, he added, would be that the company becomes bankrupt and all workers end up without a job.

Discussions between the unions and Air Malta have been taking place for months and the August 1 deadline to announce the voluntary retirement schemes was extended by three months after no agreement was reached.

The restructuring proposals include a payout scheme to reduce the airline’s workforce by as much as 500 and new working conditions for the remaining employees.

On Thursday management said it broke off talks after no agreement was reached with the GWU and the Union of Cabin Crew, while progress was registered with pilots andengineers.

The management said it would be holding information meetings with employees to explain the proposals and the impact if they are rejected. The company warned it will resort to forced lay-offs if workers rejected the deal.

The GWU is due to hold an information meeting for its members on November 21 during which it will ask workers to vote on the airline’s proposals.

Both unions have condemned what they have described as the management’s heavy-handed approach and the GWU also asked for an urgent meeting with Mr Fenech.

Reacting to the GWU’s call, the Finance Minister said he was willing to meet the union but insisted that decisions had to be taken to safeguard the company’s existence.