The Union Ħaddiema Maghqudin will meet the management of Arrow Pharm today to discuss the type of workers who will be made redundant.

“If the workers’ names are not identified in the meeting we want to at least identify the sections involved so we have a better understanding of the expertise of those who will be made redundant,” said UĦM president Jesmond Bonello.

A total of 110 employees are expected to be laid off by the pharmaceutical plant in Ħal Far.

“We will do our best to ensure it is less than 110 but it does not seem that will be the case at the moment,” said Mr Bonello.

A task force met yesterday that included UĦM and Chamber of Commerce representatives, Economy Minister Chris Cardona, Employment Minister Evarist Bartolo and Employment and Training Corporation chairman Alfred Grixti.

The task force discussed how to find jobs for the redundant workers elsewhere in the labour market. It is expected to continue to meet regularly in the weeks and months ahead to find a solution.

“We will be in a better position to find suitable jobs when we know the skills and expertise of the workers involved,” Mr Bonello said.

His measured comments were in contrast to a report in General Workers’ Union newspaper l-Orizzont on Monday, which quoted unnamed sources as saying the government had already found vacancies for the Arrow Pharm employees and the problem was now one of retraining.

The Economy Minister had said on Monday evening: “The indication is that alternative employment could be found for all 110 if they are made redundant.”

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

Last year Actavis shut down its research and development facility in Bulebel at a cost of 60 jobs. The company has attributed the redundancies to restructuring necessitated by the integration of Watson with Actavis, coupled with a drive to make the Ħal Far site more cost effective in the face of competition.