UHM calls for better working conditions for discipline corps

The Union Haddiema Maqghudin said that it has been over 10 years that the UHM has been requesting a change in current legislation that prohibits providers of vital services to be unionised. “Under current legislation if a member of the four forces approaches the union they will be suspended from work immediately,” UHM secretary-general Gejtu Vella said.

He is concerned over working conditions of the people providing these services - police corps, soldiers, and civil protection personnel - as without unionisation it is impossible to change problem areas within a reasonable time frame.

Vella said that issues regarding insurance and length of service are pressing concerns and need to be addressed in a timely manner.

Vella described a situation where, under the law, members of the Civil Protection Department and prison warders are entitled to retirement following 25 years' service, however the time period spent in training – when they are already providing the same service as their colleagues and can last between six months and three years – is not included in the 25 years of service. “The Civil Protection Department has filed a complaint about this in 2002, but a decision has yet to be taken,” he said.

Vella is not calling on government to allow these service providers to strike, as this would not be in the national interest. However being part of a union “puts the organisations on equal footing” when discussing issues with the authorities and will be able to put pressure on the authorities to come to a decision in a timely manner.

Vella said that while these services are vital in nature and must be available 24 hours a day seven days a week, 365 days a year, the people in these positions “are not being duly rewarded” and issues are taking far too long to be considered by the authorities.

So far the UHM concerns have fallen on deaf ears and a ruling by Judge Lino Farrugia Sacco in April 2009 ruled that members of these organisations are not allowed to form part of a trade union, which Vella describes as “unfortunate.”