Air Malta’s central representative council is insisting the airline’s third party contracts should be reviewed before any job losses are contemplated.
The council, an internal body grouping together all employees, said yesterday this course of action was agreed during a meeting held last year with former Air Malta chairman Sonny Portelli and government consultants Ernst and Young.
“Prior to any changes in employee work practices and actual employee numbers, the contracts signed with third parties should be addressed appropriately as it is evident these are one of the major factors resulting in the company’s present precarious situation,” the council said.
The council said Air Malta CEO Peter Davies did not give a detailed explanation of how and when the contracts would be revised during a meeting for all employees last week.
Its comments were followed by those by the Forum group of trade unions in what was the first clear signal that trade unions were adopting a united front.
The Airline Pilots Association, the Association of Airline Engineers and the Union of Cabin Crew met yesterday under the chairmanship of Forum president John Bencini to discuss the situation at the national carrier and invited the General Workers’ Union for another meeting next week. The unions expressed their concern at the difficult times Air Malta employees were facing.
When contacted, pilots’ association president Domenic Azzopardi said pilots would be meeting on Tuesday to decide on whether to strike on July 16 in protest at the restructuring plan proposed by Ernst and Young.
“By law, we have to have the approval of at least 75 per cent of all pilots to stop operations and that decision will be taken on Tuesday,” he said.
Pilots have called on the government to pressure Malta International Airport to lower its airport charges, which they claim are draining the airline, and are asking for third party contracts to be reviewed before jobs are shed.
Capt. Azzopardi described his meeting with Mr Davies yesterday as cordial but one that yielded no concrete solutions.
Pilots will be holding a protest on July 15 and are asking other unions to join them.
Meanwhile, the deadline set by the GWU for the government to declare it was ready to offer alternative employment to redundant workers expired on Thursday.
GWU general secretary Tony Zarb yesterday confirmed the union received no reply from the government to its request and would be holding a meeting for its members to decide the best way forward.