Cabin crew agree to wage cut, but Air Malta warns trust 'severely dented'

Air Malta's cabin crew have agreed to the airline's proposals for a wage cut in light of a reduced schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The national carrier, however, lamented that the agreement had only come after it had given the Union of Cabin Crew (UCC) multiple deadlines, and warned that trust had been damaged as a result.

Air Malta said that the UCC's acceptance of proposals for salaries to be reduced to €1,200 for a four-week period was "no longer sufficient to give the company the reassurances it requires".

It said it had informed the cabin crew that a longer-term solution was needed from both the UCC and the pilot's union, ALPA.

The proposals were meant to ensure that all UCC's members were guaranteed a minimum social take home pay, even when its members would end up unproductive at home because of the reduced schedule as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Air Malta said in a press release on Saturday night.

"The airline was today informed through a communication sent by the UCC that 90% of the votes counted were in favour of the proposal given by the company," Air Malta said. 

"It is regretful that only after the unavoidable process of redundancies notified to the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations (DIER) was initiated, that the UCC decided to put the company’s proposal to a vote."

The airline said that, considering the UCC’s intransigence during previous discussions aimed at avoiding redundancies, the trust between the union and the company has been "severely dented". 

"The company is not confident that the UCC will cooperate as required and is concerned that the company might be in the same position in four weeks’ time when the proposals would have to be reviewed with the DIER. The company noted that the UCC executive committee had primarily voted to not allow its members to voice an opinion on the airline’s proposal," Air Malta emphasised.

"The vote today accepting to implement certain measures proposed to the Unions for a four week period is no longer sufficient to give the company the reassurances it requires. 

"The UCC was informed that a longer-term solution is required, from  both ALPA and the UCC, for the company to have the peace of mind that it will not find itself in the same position, or worse, in a matter of weeks or months."

Air Malta added that, "out of respect for employees represented by the union", it was willing to discuss and agree on a "deep process of retructuring of a permanent nature intended to achieve a package which will ensure that the company can survive the post-COVID period and be sustainable going forward."

It underlined that a comprehensive permanent agreement between the parties was the only way the airline could have the needed assurances to reconsider its position.