The Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin and the Air Malta workers it represents have been left in the dark on the future of the airline and the discussions under way.
The union has requested a meeting with Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis to find out exactly what the future holds for the workers, particularly those who are members of the union.
But this request was not upheld automatically. According to the UĦM, after writing to Dr Zammit Lewis twice, once in August and again at the beginning of this month, the union finally received a reply through his personal assistant, saying: “We first need to know which category of workers you represent at Air Malta so that the Minister can be in a position to meet with you following the verification of the information received.”
A spokesman for the union – the second largest union in Malta – said as the person heading the negotiations, Minister Zammit Lewis ought to know that the UĦM represents more than 200 workers and is concerned about their working conditions and the future of their jobs.
The spokesman said discussions should not only be held with workers who are members of the General Workers’ Union (GWU) but with all the workers.
There is also a lack of basic information being given to the workers
Discussions on the future of Air Malta are being held with four trade unions that represent workers: GWU, the Airline Pilots’ Association (Alpa), the union representing airline engineers and the association representing cabin crew.
“Air Malta employees who are members of the UĦM approached us because they are frustrated that what they know, they only do so through their colleagues. The position of Air Malta employees is still very unclear. This is not fair on the workers, especially those who are members of the UĦM who are being left in the dark.”
“Apart from the uncertainty surrounding the future of the airline, there is also a lack of basic information being given to the workers. There were a number of meetings but no answers have been given, or the answers given were unsatisfactory. The management of Air Malta should also be giving clear replies to the questions being put to them by the employees of the national airline,” the union said in a newsletter.
The union referred to stories that appeared in the media, particularly the Times of Malta, revealing how the national airline had called a board meeting this Friday to discuss the latest developments. On the same day, there is also a meeting for the four unions. “We hope that the government will listen to the workers’ concerns. This doling out of information bit by bit needs to stop.
“The workers are tired of being given the run around.
“The employees of Air Malta want to know the truth and need to put their minds at rest.”
Questions sent to the Tourism Ministry last week remained unanswered by the time of writing.