Labour Party TV station may shed workers

The General Workers' Union yesterday insisted with the management of Super 1 TV station that talks on the collective agreement should reopen immediately after its members rejected the package negotiated with the company.

On its part, the Labour Party-owned company said on Monday it would be announcing the measures it would be taking, "which could include redundancies."

The union said the vast majority of workers, 25 out of 27, voted against the package that had been negotiated by the union's media and services section and the company's management.

The agreement was meant to cover the period between January 2005 and December 2006 and included changes in work practices, restructuring and a number of other measures aimed at enhancing the company's financial position.

The union's section secretary, Karmenu Vella, said the agreement was negotiated in "extraordinary and difficult circumstances that reflected the bad financial position that radio and TV stations were facing in Malta".

The union said that during the talks it was evident that unless urgent measures were taken to cut expenditure and increase income, the company could not continue to guarantee jobs and carry out the necessary investment in digital equipment to continue to remain competitive.

Mr Vella said the union did as it always does in such circumstances and strove to ensure that workers suffered the least possible harm and that jobs would be saved.

Following the rejection of the agreement by the Super 1 employees, Mr Vella asked the management for negotiations to be re-opened so that workers' objections would be addressed.

But the management declared it was not prepared to do so, arguing that the package it offered was indispensable for the company to be put on a sound footing.

The union said it would continue to insist with Super 1 management for talks to re-open and would be keeping employees informed of any developments.