[attach id=255368 size="medium"]The Nuance Group operates four shops at Malta International Airport. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi[/attach]

The attitude of a manager at the airport duty free shops led the country’s largest union to insist that the company take action against him.

The General Workers’ Union complains that although the Nuance Group (Malta) never lost time when misconduct by staff members was alleged, it was dragging its feet over considering the accusations being made against the shop’s manager.

The union’s maritime and aviation section has registered a trade dispute and is willing to take the case to the Industrial Tribunal if the matter is not brought to a satisfactory conclusion.

Nuance general manager Nuno Martins, however, denied that an industrial dispute had been registered.

“You are wrong,” he told Times of Malta, adding “a reconciliation meeting is scheduled to be held this week”.

GWU section secretary Charles Agius said all the union wanted was a level playing field for all staff members, irrespective of grade.

He noted that there had been cases where employees were disciplined for misconduct that was far less serious than those faced by the shops manager.

The GWU is accusing the shops manager of breaching the provisions of the collective agreement and also of trumping up accusations against an employee that led to the worker facing disciplinary charges.

Last December, the Industrial Tribunal ruled that the manager had breached the collective agreement in a case involving a retail administrator who he had accused of stealing testers. Under pressure, she had decided to resign but the tribunal ordered her reinstatement.

The GWU had also accused the shops manager of trumping up charges against a female employee over comments she had made about the roster system.

A disciplinary board had looked into the case, found the employee not guilty and recommended that the company investigate the apparent doctoring of an e-mail that the shops manager had received from a clerk about the matter.

The union is asking Nuance to appoint a disciplinary board to look into the matter and to take appropriate action against the shops manager depending on the outcome of such investigation.

The Nuance Group operates four shops at Malta International Airport and, according to its website, employs over 80 workers.