The Chamber of Commerce has refused to confirm that its members have pledged to give jobs to all 110 workers expected to be made redundant by Arrow Pharm.

Last week, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said publicly that members of the chamber had vowed in writing to absorb all 110 workers who would lose their jobs at the Ħal Far pharmaceutical plant.

However, Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin, which represents the employees, said it had not been informed of these pledges and it was working with the Employment and Training Corporation to identify suitable vacancies elsewhere in the labour market.

The Sunday Times of Malta contacted the chamber in an effort to clarify whether its members had guaranteed to give jobs to all the redundant workers, and which companies had made the pledges.

The chamber was also asked if these companies would have to create new positions to give jobs to the Arrow Pharm workers, and if it was ethical to prioritise the redundancies over other unemployed people searching for work through the normal channels.

We are doing our utmost to assist in finding alternative employment opportunities

Chamber of Commerce director general Kevin Borg would only say that the chamber was “doing its utmost to assist in the finding of alternative employment opportunities with other companies it represents. However, we feel it is premature to elaborate further at this stage of the process”.

The chamber is participating in a task force set up by the Economy and Industry Ministry to find long-term solutions for the workers facing redundancy.

The UĦM, which also forms part of the task force, said chamber repres-entatives had made no mention of the written pledges of new jobs when they met last Tuesday.

Union president Jesmond Bonello told Times of Malta last week that it would not be so simple to find 110 new jobs.

“If it was that easy we would not need the ETC (Employment and Training Corporation) at all,” he said.

Arrow Pharm announced earlier this month that 110 workers were facing redundancy as it attempts to restructure its operations and make the Ħal Far plant more cost effective in the face of global competition.

The firm was taken over in 2009 by US-based pharmaceutical giant Watson Group, which acquired fellow giant Actavis in 2012 and became known as Actavis plc.

Last year, Actavis shut down its research and development facility in Bulebel with the loss of 60 jobs.

Questions sent last week to the government’s head of communications remain unanswered.