Dozens of Enemalta employees are being discriminated against as only those close to the General Workers Union are being given the chance to choose from a list of jobs with government entities, the Opposition said yesterday.

“Apart from the uncertainty at their workplace, they are being kept in the dark over whether their employment conditions and take-home pay will be affected,” PN employment spokeswoman Therese Comodini Cachia said yesterday.

Addressing a news conference at the party headquarters in Pietà, Dr Comodini Cachia urged the Prime Minister and the Energy Minister to clarify the situation.

This was in reaction to Labour’s pre-election pledge that the working conditions of Enemalta employees would be untouched.

Apart from the uncertainty at their workplace, they are being kept in the dark over whether their employment conditions and take-home pay will be affected

The PN spokeswoman claimed that GWU shop stewards had taken on the role of the company’s management by approaching some employees with a list of job offers within public entities.

“Such a procedure is not fair, as any vacancies should be filled following a call for applications,” Dr Comodini Cachia said.

While pledging the PN’s support for these workers, she urged unions to show greater respect for the rights of Enemalta employees.

The news conference was also addressed by PN energy spokeswoman Marthese Portelli, who said workers in the state power company felt betrayed by the government.

“Weeks before the last election, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had addressed Enemalta workers at the Rialto Hall in Cospicua to assure them that a Labour government would not privatise Enemalta and that their take-home pay would not be affected,” Dr Portelli said.

Two years later, the government was doing the complete opposite, she said.