Union wants Auditor General to investigate government cleaning contracts

The General Workers' Union is calling for an urgent investigation by the Auditor General into the role played by the Nationalist government in the award of public cleaning tenders to companies of Dominic Gafà, the director of Mach Clean Services.

A secret recording of Gafà's meeting with GWU secretary-general Tony Zarb made the news in the past week after the Prime Minister accused Zarb of selling access to the Labour government, ostensibly over comments in which Zarb is heard saying that the union uses its influence to favour companies in public tenders, if their employees are unionized.

On its part, the GWU said that in 2012 the Nationalist government awarded around 27 cleaning contracts to Dominic Gafà, the contractor involved in the recording used by the Nationalist Party.

"Conspicuous amongst these contracts is one awarded in the same period the recording was made by the office of Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi himself. The recording was later delivered to the PN for use during its electoral campaign," the GWU said in a statement.

"The Nationalist government awarded all contracts to Dominic Gafà at a rate below the minimum wage. This indicates that the government is aware that the contractor utilises precarious work practices and makes the Nationalist government a prominent collaborator in the exploitation of employees in the cleaning industry."

The union said that Lawrence Gonzi had to shoulder political responsibility for the "exploitation of these workers" and to surrender all documentation to the Auditor General without delay.

Tony Zarb this morning filed two further libel suits against PN deputy leader Simon Busuttil and secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier following allegations they made on the 7-8 February, where they alleged that the recording was proof of corruption. The libel suit was also filed against Media.Link head of news Nathaniel Attard. 

In the libel suits, Zarb claims that the PN spokespersons' statements contained false allegations, intended to harm his reputation. "This is a malicious story fabricated by the Nationalist Party in order to cast a shadow over members of the GWU for opposing recipients of government contracts who exploit workers by paying them poor wages and who deny them decent conditions of work."