A tale of hypocrisy and two collective agreements

Talks over the Water Services Corporation collective agreement between Social Policy Minister Lawrence Gonzi and the General Workers’ Union have broken down. The matter will now be referred to a tribunal. And while the GWU has been stalling over a new collective agreement for their workers at the Union Press, officials from the same Union wanted an Lm8 increase, changed to LM6 for Water Services Corporation workers. Sources close to the GWU told MaltaToday that part of this plea was made in order to overtake the government employees who reached the salary levels of WSC workers after the collective agreement for the public sector was signed in 2001.

Most of the GWU employees can no longer stand the situation where the GWU fight for wage increases in most other workplaces but then offer peanuts to their own workers. A number of workers told

MaltaToday that journalists at the Union Press are the least paid when compared with other publications in Malta.

Many of the workers were surprised to hear GWU officials claim victory following the new Farsons collective agreement and then playing hardball with their own workers. One of the workers said; "Most of us believe that charity begins at home, but not at the GWU".

The new collective agreement for Union Press workers is now in the offing. Months of talks between the union workers' committee and officials from the General Workers' Union seems to have borne no fruit with both sides sticking to their initial position.

With the workers sticking together, after some of the new "heads" acted as strike breakers at one point in time, sense seems to have prevailed.

The workers are happy that the tide seems to have turned. However they got the fright of their lives when one of the managers, until some months ago a co-worker, threatened to sack whoever was discovered giving the story to MaltaToday.

The Union Press is the printing arm of the General Workers’ Union. A Lm3-a-week pay increase had been on UPEC’s (Union Press Employee Committee) agenda since the beginning of the talks but the management was dead set against granting such a request.

Several workers from the printing press department have told MaltaToday that the management had made a number of conditions and was ready to offer a take it or leave it Lm2 increase.

The conditions included the abolition of summer half days for those who work as day workers. These include the advertising department, features department and other workers which are on clerical duties. Another measure proposed by the management is for the numerous sections of the Union Press to start working on shift to reduce overtime expenses. One of the proposals is working four days a week but on a day of 10 hours instead of the usual eight.

Most of the workers contested this decision as they believe that this goes against the law and it is only if the majority of the workers agree to such a new shift that the union can impose such measures. A good number of workers even threatened to strike if such conditions were to be imposed. In fact there were workers who had already taken legal advice on the issue.

Some days ago the workers were told by the committee that the Lm3 increase is to be agreed upon and that no other rights will be lost. The last proper wage increase that the Union workers received was in the Anglu Fenech era.

Meanwhile whilst the majority of the workers are looking forward to such a settlement, it looks like there is no way that the former housing minister, Alfred Portelli, a clerk at Union Press, will have his own, extra Lm1 wage hike granted. The vast majority of long-term Union Press workers have benefited from the Lm1 increase.

When awarded, this increment promotes a worker from Group 3, the lowest grade possible, to Group 2. At the moment Mr Portelli, is on the lowest possible, Lm80 a week, salary.

The Lm8 increase, which the GWU claims for WSC workers, refers to a three-year period. The WSC collective agreement expired in 2001 and any increase in wages will be backdated. It is also understood that the government refuses to grant hefty increases to other corporations because it considers equal pay as the Civil Service workers is more than fair.

The GWU is believed to have given up on the Lm8 per week pay rise, which means a Lm416 pay rise per annum with the Corporation losing money the way it is, such a rise in payroll costs would have meant raising water bills, something, which the government is against.