The government’s pre-election job guarantee pledge to Enemalta employees is ringing hollow after a meeting on their future raised concerns about their future.
The company called a meeting for staff in the wake of the agreement signed earlier this month, which saw the Chinese energy company Shanghai Electric Power committing to inject €320 million in return for a 33 per cent stake in Enemalta.
Employees, who did not wish to go by name for fear of retribution, told The Sunday Times of Malta that during the meeting addressed by Enemalta CEO Frederick Azzopardi they were presented with a fait accompli.
They said one option was to remain on Enemalta’s books with the possibility of being redeployed to a government entity on a day-to-day basis. However, this would see them lose up to €10,000 a year in allowances.
The other option was to join the Chinese company, on a fixed-term contract of two or three years which could be renewed. An employee who works in the company’s generation section that employs about 120 workers in Marsa and Delimara said everyone felt betrayed in light of the promise the Labour leader made last year at the Rialto Hall in Cospicua. “We were assured that, irrespective of who bought Enemalta, we would remain on the company’s books and that our pay would remain unchanged. We’re scared of what lies ahead,” he said.
The father of a teenage girl added that if he chose to remain with the government he would see his monthly salary practically halved to €900 from €1,700. These concerns were also raised by Solidarjetà Ħaddiema PN, which urged trade unions to seek assurances from Enemalta and the government.
We’re scared of what lays ahead
When contacted Enemalta chairman Charles Mangion said the management had addressed employees to assure them their job was safe, but he emphasised that “nothing had been formulated yet”.
While denying claims that workers were presented with a fait accompli, he said no decisions would be imposed on the employees and that ultimately they would still remain on the corporation’s books. Further questions remained unanswered.
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