UHM calls strike as government drags feet on sectoral agreement negotiations

In a statement issued on Monday, the UHM said the industrial action was prompted by “exaggerated delays by the Justice Ministry, as well as the PACBU (Public Administration and Collective Bargaining Unit) regarding the continuation of formal discussions regarding proposals on the Sectoral Agreement concerning this class of workers.”

The UHM added that through this industrial action it hoped to show its “huge disappointment at the way the negotiations are being treated.”

The directives are being called for also in the light of how, “despite the fact that the UHM enjoys the majority in representation of this class of public sector workers, the proposals have been tabled since 17 December of last year, and to this day have not elicited any sort of tangible counter-proposal,” the union said.

The directives were called by the Public Servants Division of the union, targeted at workers of a legal grade (Senior Legal Officers, Legal Officers, Senior Notaries, Notaries, Senior Legal Procurators, Procurators, Judicial Assistants) within Ministries and all government departments.

The UHM’s directives are as follows:

1 – No worker in the legal class should attend sittings or carry out work within the Courts, as well as within the office of the Attorney General, both in Maltaand in Gozo.

2 – Memos should not be accepted, and requests for information either in writing or verbally should be given, including requests for information dealing with EU projects.

3 – Workers should also refrain from making use of conventional channels of communication, including mobiles, pagers, faces, emails, and telephones.

4 – Legal class workers should also refrain from publishing public contracts.

The UHM did not exclude escalating the directives should the issue not be given due attention by the authorities.