Unions angered by proposal giving prime minister wide-ranging power over public service work conditions

The union federation, Forum, said a proposed new law regulating public administration was put forward in Parliament without consultation

The proposed Public Administration Act allows the prime minister to change work conditions for different employees in the same grade
The proposed Public Administration Act allows the prime minister to change work conditions for different employees in the same grade

Unions are angered by a proposed new law that will give the prime minister overriding powers to change working conditions for State employees.

The proposed legislation, known as the Public Administration Act, was tabled in Parliament without consultation with major stakeholders, according to Forum, a federation of trade unions.

Forum said several aspects of the proposed law were “unacceptable” and would “drastically change” the manner in which the public service works.

The federation is calling for a revision of the law. The parliamentary discussion at Second Reading stage has not yet started.

One of the issues flagged by Forum was the power being given to the prime minister to be able to sign off on different conditions of work to employees, even if they are in the same grade. The prime minister is also being given the power to remove or change grades and structures in the public administration without consultation.

“This is unacceptable because collective agreements and sectoral arrangements will end up playing second fiddle to unilateral decisions taken without consultation,” the unions said.

Forum also said that the values of anti-discrimination and impartiality were removed from the principle list of values underpinning the new law.

“These are mentioned in secondary issues but they should remain part of the main values underpinning the public service,” Forum said.

The unions said they also opposed a new clause that bars people employed with regulatory bodies and inspectorates from working in similar positions in the private sector for two years after leaving their job with the government. They also risk a hefty fine if they breach this condition.

Forum said such a move would hinder job mobility and unlike measures introduced for persons of trust working in ministries, no form of compensation was being contemplated in this case to cushion the transition.

Persons of trust who terminate their job with ministries continue to receive their wage for six months.

The unions also noted that despite the use of the terminology ‘high-risk positions’ to describe certain jobs in the public sector, the proposed law gives no clear definition of what it means. Instead, the law has what the unions described as a “confused schedule” listing a series of positions that do not include permanent secretaries and persons of trust.

Other objections include a legal provision making it incumbent on public officials to obey verbal directions from their superiors and an extension of ‘political neutrality’ to all grades, effectively baring all people employed with the government from publicly expressing a political opinion. 

The latter clause was perceived as a threat to democracy by the unions since it would bar people at all grades of the public sector from participating in political activities.

Forum asked for an urgent meeting with Principle Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar to discuss their concerns before the parliamentary debate on the law proceeds any further.