News • 01 DECEMBER 2002

Nationalists re-election will seal state TV overhaul

g’mangia -The major overhaul at the Public Broadcasting Services will start after the general elections, if the Nationalist Party is confirmed in office. Government and PBS sources are blaming the General Workers' Union for dragging its feet on the matter but said that after the general elections the major overhaul should start immediately.

The Task Force Report on the restructuring of PBS has confirmed that the 215 workers employed at the PBS are too much and the number should go down to at least 100.

Ironically although the amount of employees at the national station, radio and television combined, is practically more than double the needed compliment, there is a lack of journalists. Most of the current journalists at PBS are working 80 hours a week. The newsroom is undermanned and in the near future a call for applications for reporters/journalists is expected to be made public.

Radio problems

The main problems are at the radio far too many technicians working, a large amount which cannot be sustained. The government wants to start an early retirement scheme similar to the Dockyard one but it looks as if the GWU is not agreeing with the sum of money involved.

The age bracket for retirement has been practically agreed with 56 being the age were all parts seem to give the go-ahead to. But sources close to both the PBS and the government say that the GWU wants to leave things until the next general election, obviously playing for time and for the possibility of a Labour government being elected.

Mallia report

Sources at PBS have pointed out that similar proposals were made in 1995, by the then Chief Executive at PBS. However, the proposals were shot down by Union representatives and later were not accepted by cabinet ministers.

In his 1997 detailed report to Alfred Sant, who was then Prime Minister, Mr Tony Mallia, who was at the time the PBS boss, repeated his recommendations and strongly attacked the management at PBS including the Deputy Managers, Managers and Executives. This apparently did not go down well with the Labour Government of the time. It seems that Dr Sant did not agree with most of the contents of the Mallia report. He also disagreed with the Mallia recommendation that Channel 12 should never have been transferred from the Broadcasting Authority to PBS, a point understood to have also found support with Mr Mallia's successor, Albert Marshall. It is a fact that Channel 12 is a great burden to PBS, with no chance of any return.

Resitance to flexibility

Various other sources pointed out that the General Workers’ Union has not helped to solve certain key issues at PBS. On its members' insistence, it repeatedly refused to accept a clause on flexibility.

GWU shop stewards at PBS are very influential over their members and the Union, and they would probably insist on opposing the task force recommendation.

The task force had declared that PBS could be run by 90 fulltime employees. No one will be fired from the organisation, but it has been made clear that PBS cannot continue to lose money and that steps need to be taken soon, certainly by the end of the year.

It is understood that the government wants to adopt a similar Drydocks style early retirement scheme, where the over 56's are offered a lump sum of money and can register for work.

A total of 33 per cent of the workforce are over 45 years and only seven per cent are under 30.

PBS spends around Lm1.2 million on salaries and receives more than one million liri from TV licences. It spends around Lm1.5 million, annually when one includes overtime. Advertising is enough to provide for wages but not for other expenses.