Updated | UHM accuses MEPA of smokescreen tactics in calling for verification exercise

The UHM described MEPA's call for a verification exercise, to determine which union represents its employees, is a diversionary tactic to draw attention away from discussions about the entity's demerger

The UHM has filed a warrant of prohibitory injunction against the Director of Employment at the Department of Employment and Industrial relations, in an attempt to stop it from carrying out a verification exercise to establish which union represents workers at MEPA, arguing that the exercise would extend beyond the authority’s demerger.

“This is a ploy to distract the unions from the demerger by drawing its focus on verification. Workers should have the right to choose the union of their own choice,” UHM secretary general Josef Vella told journalists outside the law courts. “The MEPA CEO decided to request the verification on the eve of the demerger.” The other union is an in-house union.

Vella described the verification exercise as pointless, adding that it was clearly a manoeuvre on MEPA’s part to have the unions squabble over recognition instead of discussing the conditions in the new entities.

“At the end of the day, it is the management who must request the director of employment to carry out the verification exercise. I expected the management to say that it is pointless to do so now. Better to focus on the demerger and rights of the workers and then deal with verification.”

The UHM is arguing that as a verification exercise has only recently been carried out, this exercise cannot be repeated before the lapse of one year. Until then the new union is not be able to claim it represents the workers and therefore, representation of UHM .

“The point is, with something so important, instead of saying who is going to do what after MEPA dissolves, we are looking at who has the representation.” 

MEPA reaction

In a statement issued later this afternoon, MEPA pointed out that the authority’s management initiated the process of a membership verification exercise after last July it had received an official claim by another inhouse union (UTAC) that it should be the official recognised union at MEPA.  

“Upon receiving this claim, MEPA Management attempted to address the membership verification issue with UHM, however UHM declined to give any information pertaining to its members,” MEPA said.

It said that from the current payslips “it is clear that the UTAC have far more paid members than the UHM which according to the same Collective Agreement the recognised Union is that which has 50 % +1.”

To ensure transparency and an independent process, MEPA said it chose to refer the union recognition issue to the Director of Employment and Industrial Relations for the verification exercise to be carried out under his auspices.

MEPA reiterated that it would have been impertinent to the employees and also unlawful had it chosen to ignore the claim made by the in-house union and not started the required process.