Industrial action at the law courts was averted when the management submitted its counter proposals after the Times of Malta carried a report on the dispute.

Talks between the two sides on a new agreement aimed at improving the working conditions of deputy court registrars started in 2013.

However, little progress was registered, notwithstanding ministerial intervention. Things only started moving after the news report published last Friday, the sources added.

“That same morning, we received an e-mail with the counter proposals we had been chasing for several weeks. We are now evaluating them and the discussions will continue,” UĦM Voice of the Workers’ assistant director, Edwin Balzan, said when contacted.

It is good to have a government that listens, but it is also good for those who listen to act

The union had warned the court management of industrial action unless there was a breakthrough in the talks.

The directives that had been planned could have directly affected court cases, but, worse still, the registry, which is considered to be the heart of the law courts. The union submitted its proposals in 2013 in a bid to improve the working conditions of the 60 deputy registrars.

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici intervened in an attempt to solve the impasse but to no avail. Questions about the matter sent to him by this newspaper a week ago remain unanswered.

According to the chief executive officer of UĦM Voice of the Workers, Josef Vella, there were deputy registrars whose careers were at a standstill and others whose take-home pay was lower than that of others doing the same work. The union, he added, drew up a package that addressed this and removed the anomalies.

He criticised the government for failing to set the example as an employer “that is able to come to such agreements efficiently and effectively”. “It is good to have a government that listens but it is also good for those who listen to act,” he said.