Sewage engineers working with the Water Services Corporation have had their risk allowance taken away even though they are exposed to drainage fumes.

The Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin – Voice of the Workers has announced an industrial dispute insisting that the employees were receiving no remedy despite the blatant discrimination they faced.

The union said the engineers were complaining that while they were being exposed to the fumes on a regular basis, they realised recently that the latest collective agreement did not include the risk allowance.

According to the UĦM, the sewage engineers had initially approached the Union of Water Services Corporation Union (UWSCP) but no action was taken by this union. They later approached the UĦM.

The WSC workers are complaining that while they were told that the allowance had to be cut “across the board”, it later emerged that other employees in different grades were still benefitting from the allowance.

The UĦM said it had met with the corporation management and although the meeting lasted some two hours, no solution was found.

“The management did not accept the proposals put forward by the UĦM and as a result directives have been escalated and the industrial dispute will continue,” the union said.

In recent weeks, the WSC engaged dozens of new workers in what appeared to be a vote mobilisation campaign for embattled Minister Within the Office of the Prime Minister Konrad Mizzi.

The WSC, which is responsible for the provision of water on the island, is already over-staffed with its workforce reaching 1,000 employees by May 2016, a significantly higher figure than in May 2013.

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