Seven power station officials, claiming years of blatant workplace discrimination at the hands of their superiors and “powerful” third parties, are threatening further legal action failing an immediate and just remedy.

This is not the first call made by the seven officials who, as employees at Engineering Resources Limited, had been seconded to work as principal control and instrumentation officers at the Delimara power station. 

They had filed a judicial protest in February against their employer as well as the executive chairperson and company with which they were seconded, claiming eight years of “manifest” discrimination, threats, bullying, humiliation and a generally “hostile attitude” which they summed up as “apartheid”.

But following that judicial act, the other parties did not file a counter-protest, despite having been formally served with the officials’ court action that was also covered by the media. 

Eight months down the line, the seven officials have now filed a second judicial protest, this time roping in the Minister for Energy, her permanent secretary as well as the General Workers Union.

Since filing their first act in February, they did all they could to resolve the matter, even by engaging in several meetings at ministerial and industrial level, where they were never represented by their union, the protesting parties claim.

In fact, in spite of having for years been full members of the GWU, throughout all this workplace saga, they were “ignored” by the union which left them “to fend for themselves”.

All meetings and attempts ultimately proved to be “a waste of time” as neither the minister nor other parties involved in the discussions had come up with a solution that could be considered as “just” by the officials whose rights had been disregarded for years. 

Moreover, the officials argued that such perceived shortcomings by the minister and the union had, if anything, only served to perpetuate the discriminatory treatment they had suffered for years.

Such “omission” was perceived as a “nod of approval” in respect of such unjustified discrimination against the seven officials who were never accused of any shortcomings nor subjected to disciplinary proceedings at work. 

So where did all this come from, the protesting parties asked.

Unless this stemmed from some personal grudge in their regard, then there appeared to be “third parties” so powerful that the chairperson had to bow to their diktat.

All this reflected a sense of impunity.

More recently, the officials were told to follow an overseas course that had nothing at all to do with their line of work.

This was like telling a lawyer to sit for a medical examination, argued the officials’ lawyer by way of analogy.

Matters culminated in June when they received an email from the CEO of Energy Resources Limited, informing them that their services were no longer required at International Energy Services Ltd, and that their secondment was being “revoked with immediate effect”.

Since then, all seven have now been seconded with another entity under a different ministry. 

In their second judicial protest filed before the First Hall, Civil Court against the two companies concerned, the chairperson at IESL, the minister, her permanent secretary and the GWU, they are calling for an immediate remedy to years of alleged breach of rights, psychological cruelty, breach of criminal laws and also financial losses.

Failing that, they reserved the right to seek further judicial action. 

Lawyer Michael Tanti-Dougall is assisting the protesting parties.