Talks on a new collective agreement for bus transport employees were embarked upon this morning, immediately following a ceremony during which Malta Public Transport recognised the Union Haddiema Maghqudin as the union having the workers' majority support.

An exercise carried out by the Employment and Industrial Relations Department established that the UHM enjoys a 56 per cent representation.

The union’s recognition came following a series of industrial and legal actions last week.

It was only on Sunday morning that the company and the union agreed the UHM would be given sole recognition as from this morning.

UHM CEO Josef Vella told a news conference this morning that the union was planning to conclude talks on the collective agreement within three months.

MPT general manager Konrad Pule said more route improvements would be introduced on December 20.

He said the changes will include the ones that had been planned to follow that a later stage.