Pilots have formally notified Air Malta they will not fly on Saturday, upping the tempo on a threat of industrial action they have been making for the past two weeks.
The Airline Pilots’ Association yesterday gave notice of suspension of service to the Director of Employment and Industrial Relations ahead of today’s decision on whether to forge ahead with the strike.
Finance Minister Tonio Fenech, in Brussels for the Ecofin meeting, warned that a strike will cost millions and cripple the company.
“In the current circumstances a strike will cost the company dearly and will surely cripple it. If a company is already on its knees, you can’t give it another blow as you will surely floor it,” Mr Fenech said. (See story on page 3).
Pilots last week overwhelmingly voted for strike action to be taken over its disagreement with management on the restructuring plan for the airline.
If they go ahead Air Malta flights will be grounded on Saturday from midnight to midnight.
However, barely had the official notification been made when 63 Air Malta workers from various sections of the airline, except pilots and cabin crew, filed a judicial protest holding the pilots to account for any damages they may suffer if the strike goes ahead and the airline went bankrupt.
The workers quoted from a judicial protest filed by Air Malta on Monday, which said that a strike would cause financial damage and possibly lead to bankruptcy and the imminent loss of all jobs.
Alpa is protesting over the airline’s plans to dismiss pilots as part of the restructuring exercise and is insisting that before any jobs are terminated the company must renegotiate third party contracts, including that with Malta International Airport.
The airline has said it will let go 511 workers and according to the draft restructuring plan leaked to The Sunday Times, some 57 pilots are set to lose their job.
However, Alpa is officially still in the dark on the precise number although 12 of them have been informed their temporary contracts will not be extended and one pilot has been put on notice.
According to law pilots have to give two days notice before embarking on strike action and yesterday’s move was well ahead of the required obligation as a reaction to Air Malta’s judicial protest, which said no industrial dispute had been declared.
Alpa has said the final decision on whether to ground Air Malta’s fleet on Saturday will be taken today after its top officials meet Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Finance Minister Tonio Fenech.
“The pilots expect quick solutions to issues which are destroying the airline,” Alpa president Domenic Azzopardi said.
“We want to save the company in the interests of the country and the workers but we also expect others to do their bit.”
Alpa believes that issues which need to be dealt with immediately include MIA fees charged to Air Malta, the contract on the carriage of mail and the revision of other contracts for services rendered to the airline. The pilots would also like to see a revision of contracts with tour operators.
“If all parties do their bit, ticket prices would go down for everyone and Air Malta would be more competitive,” Capt. Azzopardi said.
Pilots will be holding a demonstration in Valletta on Friday along with the Union of Cabin Crew and the General Workers’ Union. The Association of Airline Engineers has not yet taken a decision on whether to participate in the demonstration but all three unions have said they do not support strike action.
Meanwhile, Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin, which represents a number of Air Malta workers but does not enjoy recognition, yesterday called for “a cooling off period” to allow everybody to engage in meaningful discussions.
The union also called for a meeting with Alpa to discuss the impact of strike action on the company, its workers and the tourism industry.
The Malta Employers’ Association and the Malta Chamber of Commerce Industry and Enterprise for the second time in a week called on pilots to avoid strike action and appealed to all stakeholders in the dispute to engage in “constructive discussions”.
“Any strike action will only damage the airline further and increase the possibility of closure that will not be in anyone’s interest, particularly when one considers the domino effect this will have on the entire country. We augur that the meeting scheduled between the government and the unions will yield positive results,” the two employer bodies said.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com