The Union Haddiema Maghqudin is keeping "all options open" about whether to continue with, halt or escalate a bus drivers' strike.
The union ordered the strike to press the bus company - Malta Public Transport Services - to grant it recognition as representing the majority of the workers.
A number of bus drivers - 22 according to unconfirmed sources - were on strike between 7am and 9am and between 4pm and 6pm.
UHM secretary Josef Vella said this afternoon that more than 22 drivers took part and many others did not because they were threatened through phone calls that disciplinary action would be taken against them. Moreover, the bus company had brought in additional buses from the Unscheduled Bus Service.
The union, he said, would continue with its fight for recognition.
GWU, the union which currently has recognition, said this afternoon that the strike was a 'total failure' and an indicator that the majority of the bus company's workers actually backed the GWU.
The UHM is insisting that it represents more than half the workers of the bus service.
SERVICE 'OPERATING NORMALLY'
Malta Public Transport in a statement said that the bus service was operating normally since it had had a contingency plan prepared in view of the strike threat.
The Transport Ministry in a separate statement said it yesterday had talks with the GWU and the UHM. The UHM was asked to provide information to back its claim of representing more than half of the workers, but the union failed to do so.
So far it was clear that more than half of the workers were members of the GWU, the recognised union.
Transport Minister Joe Mizzi regretted that the UHM had gone ahead with its industrial action when it had been invited to a meeting to discuss the verification process.
He appealed for a sense of responsibility and said this was a sensitive moment for the bus service which was not helped by arguments which fuelled tension and hindered the process for the identification of a new bus service operator.
GWU REACTION
Jeremy Camilleri the GWU’s section secretary responsible for transport, said the UHM strike action had been a failure with only some 23 drivers having taken part out of a total of 900 employees.
Mr Camilleri said the strike action had actually showed that the GWU enjoyed majority support in the bus company.
He said he was against going to the Director of Industrial Relations to seek verification when the case was so clear cut. The GWU, he said, had provided all the necessary membership documentation to the company, including data on membership fees deducted from salaries.
He cast doubts on the motive behind the directives, when Malta was seeking a new bus operator. The unions, he argued, should be united to seek the best conditions for the workers from their new employer, once it was identified.