Ten years after being set up, the Civil Protection Association was still in negotiations with the government to establish certain workers’ rights, association secretary John Azzopardi said.

The rights being discussed included the formal recognition of the association as a union and ensuring Civil Protection Department personnel were covered by insurance in case of injury or death on the job. The association also wanted to ensure all personnel had the same pension rights because there were anomalies among workers who carried out the same job.

CPD personnel who were former police officers wanted to ensure they were paid overtime due to them when they were still in the police force.

Mr Azzopardi said the association was waiting for the Justice Ministry to set an appointment to discuss the issues.