UĦM suspends industrial action over pending public sector collective agreements

The UĦM has suspended all industrial action in the public sector after the Principal Permanent Secretary said collective agreement talks will resume immediately after the election.

The union had several ongoing disputes, including at the Attorney General’s office, after collective agreement talks came to an abrupt halt when the election was called.

“UĦM Voice of the Workers has suspended industrial action in connection with pending public sector collective agreements in the wake of the declaration made by the Office of the Principal Permanent Secretary that talks would resume immediately after the general election,” the union said on Wednesday.

Describing its decision as a “gesture of goodwill” the union said industrial action is only taken in the best interest of its members.

Industrial action at the AG's office risked paralysing a number of high-profile prosecutions.

It said that the vast majority of public sector collective agreements concluded in the outgoing legislature were those involving UĦM.

However, the union insisted that the decision to abruptly suspend negotiations in the aftermath of the election announcement, contrasted with past practice.

“As a matter of fact, between May and June 2017, negotiations on several collective agreements continued and in some cases, were concluded such as those for employees at SportMalta, the Housing Authority and the Gozo Channel,” the UĦM said.

It added that it could not understand the reason behind government’s change of heart since the last election.

The union warned that if talks on the pending collective agreements do not resume immediately after the election as promised, it will have no other way than to resort to industrial action.