The bus transport system was thrown into chaos yesterday evening when a union instructed drivers to stop collecting fares and the company then ordered them not to leave the Valletta terminus.
At one point, very few buses were operating and the company was scrambling to find substitute drivers to ensure it provided 50 per cent of the service, as required by law.
According to Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin president Jesmond Bonello, drivers who did leave the terminus had to drive up to four routes at a time to make up for those not operating.
The UĦM said industrial action was ordered after Spanish firm Autobuses de Leon, owner of Malta Public Transport, failed to recognise it as the sole representative of its employees.
Union general secretary Josef Vella said it had been seeking recognition from the company for two years and had yesterday been given “clear” poll results showing it was the majority representative of the transport workers.
According to the Department of Industrial Relations, the UĦM had won 56 per cent of the vote.
However, the company has not yet officially accepted the union’s representation, which the UĦM sees as an unacceptable delay and an infringement on the workers’ basic right to representation.
“This has gone on for long enough. After two years of fighting, this has become the longest battle for recognition in the island’s history,” Mr Vella said.
The UĦM’s tussle over majority representation was with rival the General Workers’ Union.
Last night, Malta Public Transport said it had obtained a court order halting what it called the illegal and abusive union directive.
It also denied it was delaying the verification process.
“Once the company was given the clearance by the courts to be able to carry out the verification exercise, it immediately initiated the process, which is now in the final stages,” said Julio Tironi, transport division director for Autobuses de Leon.
“We want to be sure that the process is done rigorously - this is in the employees’ best interest. We reiterate that we have no dispute with UĦM,” he said.
He said it was only after the directive was issued that the company received the formal report confirming the union enjoyed majority support. Once the entire process was finished, the company would be able to recognise the union “very soon”, after which negotiations on the collective agreement would re-start.
Asked earlier whether he would consider escalating the action, Mr Vella said he would rule nothing out. “At this point we will take this as far as needs be. We will not rule out sterner action, nor court action, be it before the Constitutional Court or even any EU bodies.”