Ambulance drivers' dispute shows need of arbitration - UHM

The 11-week ambulance drivers' dispute highlighted the need to set up a conciliation and arbitration structure for government employees who are in dispute with their employer, Union Haddiema Maghqudin general secretary Gejtu Vella said.

Interviewed about the dispute, Mr Vella said he was aware that the union was under fire because of the industrial action which had been underway for almost three months over allowances. "But the union is there to defend its members, more so when it believes they are right, as in this case," he said.

"This action has also clearly shown how right we are in our criticism of the new Industrial Relations Act, which still excludes civil servants from having access to conciliation or arbitration," he added.

"Raymond-Pierre Bodin, the director of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, who was recently brought to Malta as guest speaker of the government, has informed us that the general practice in European Union countries is for civil servants to be allowed conciliation, mediation and arbitration in a breakdown situation.

"Mr Bodin informed us that this is widely used, for example, in Ireland and in the Nordic countries, where they have permanent conciliation and mediation offices set up by the state. As Malta is heading towards the EU, we cannot understand what is keeping the government from moving in that direction as other EU countries have done," Mr Vella said.

"Ironically, to add insult to injury, in Malta we have two systems already in place. There is the Director of Employment and Industrial Relations, who holds conciliation and mediation meetings, and the industrial tribunal. However, both of these set-ups are very efficiently used only by the private sector and parastatal bodies. The state, which is the biggest employer, cannot turn to them," Mr Vella said.

"It is clear that there should be a structure for civil servants to have someone independent to whom they can turn when there is a dispute. As things stand, when they have a dispute with their employer, which is the government, the latter acts as a judge and jury and decides whether they are right or wrong. This is not acceptable," he said.

Mr Vella argued that by failing to go to the industrial tribunal, the government was also sowing doubts about the effectiveness of such a mechanism.

"In the absence of such a structure we cannot but stand by workers such as ambulance drivers. We believe they have a right to allowances as other health care workers have and they are doing more than they should do by the book.

"The government is being penny-wise and pound-foolish in this issue. Our ultimate aim is to upgrade the skills of ambulance drivers to be also on a par with paramedics. By being more than just ambulance drivers, they actually save the government money as the manning levels for ambulances would decrease," Mr Vella said.

"All they are asking for is an allowance of Lm3.75 a week. There are 50 ambulance drivers. This would cost the government Lm9,750 annually. Ambulance drivers receive a maximum salary of Lm4,252 annually before tax and NI contributions are deducted," Mr Vella said.

Mr Vella said that if the government displayed a willingness to return to the negotiating table with an open mind, the UHM would consider this as positive and would not hesitate to suspend the action.