Trade union federation asks Prime Minister to intervene in cabin crew, Air Malta dispute

Trade union federation FORUM has called on Prime Minister Robert Abela to intervene in the ongoing dispute between the cabin crew union and Air Malta.

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

The Forum Trade Unions Maltin said now that the Union for Cabin Crew agreed to take the wage cut, Air Malta should be responsible in implementing the conditions it had said it would be adopting had the union accepted its request.

The cabin crew union had initially rejected the airline's proposal with Air Malta giving notice of mass redundancies among cabin crew and pilots, who had laso rejected the wage cut.

“FORUM believes that this is not the time for Air Malta to play around with the jobs of these workers,” a statement on Monday read.

The unions’ forum also called on the Prime Minister to intervene in the issue, in an effort to “safeguard hundreds of jobs”. 

“In this difficult time for these workers, FORUM appeals for a common sense approach in the same way the private sector is being handled,” the federation said. 

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

Despite the union's wage cut agreement, Air Malta have lamented that the agreement only came after it had given the Union of Cabin Crew 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.

READ ALSO: Pilots guaranteed salary in 2016 if Air Malta forced redundancies