Pre-election prison points? Prison officers promised back pay during campaign
Officers told boards will assess cases of injustice days after election was announced
After years of complaining about unpaid allowances and working-hours compensation, prison officers have suddenly been told their claims will be reviewed - by two boards set up days after the election date was announced.
Just three days before Robert Abela called the snap election, all prison officers received a letter from the prison administration informing them that correctional officers who were disqualified from getting a prestigious service medal over the years would get another chance at it after an appointed board reviews their case.
Then, nine days after the election was announced, the Home Affairs Ministry issued a press release announcing it would pay correctional officers for extra hours they worked without compensation between 1994 and 2019 due to a human resource anomaly.
Two days later, on May 8, prison authorities again sent a letter to all officers informing them that a ministry board would be reviewing cases of officers who were not paid a special duty allowance between 2019, when the Correctional Services Agency was set up, and 2024, when a new collective agreement granted the allowance to all correctional officers across the board.
The special duty allowance is financial compensation paid to officers for their specialised, higher-risk duties in prison that fall outside standard day-to-day correctional work.
The anomaly was created in 2019 when a new sectoral agreement shifted eligibility criteria, leaving some guards without the allowance while others continued to receive it.
Good news, but is it an election gimmick?
Prison sources told Times of Malta that correctional officers welcomed the announcement, having spent years fighting what they described as systemic injustices.
Scores of prison guards have already submitted their claims to the newly promised boards, hoping to finally get the back payments they have long contested.
But sources also said the prevailing sentiment among officers after the announcement is that these initiatives were primarily a political manoeuvre to influence votes ahead of the May 30 snap election.
The officers were informed their requests would be processed after the election, which means that those deemed deserving of the compensations will not receive their payouts until after they vote.
The compensations for extra hours and special duty allowance are monetary, but the medal carries no financial compensation. The medal, known as the Long Service and Efficiency Medal, is awarded to officers who have completed a long tenure of service with an irreproachable and clean conduct sheet after 18 years, 25 years and 30 years of service. Although it grants no financial compensation, it is widely regarded as prestigious among officers.
The letter announced a set of revamped rules for eligibility for the medal and established a new review board to re-evaluate officers previously disqualified from receiving the honours.
The Home Affairs Ministry, however, has defended the timing and dismissed claims of electoral opportunism.
In a reply to questions, a ministry spokesperson said the measures are part of a broader, holistic effort by the Labour administration to elevate the working conditions of all disciplined forces, pointing to eight sectoral and collective agreements concluded in recent years.
The ministry maintained that the decisions followed recent “side meetings” with the General Workers’ Union (GWU) to address specific “pockets” of workers who had been left uncompensated.
Not the first time
The news comes days after Times of Malta revealed that current and former soldiers waiting for an appeal decision from the AFM’s complaints-appeals board have received a cheque of €3,000 just before the election was announced.
The payment was issued by the ministry on the same day the correctional officers received the letter concerning their medals. The ministry informed them the money was to compensate them for delays in processing their cases.
The AFM’s complaints board was set up to decide on injustices army personnel felt they had suffered in the past. Most of them relate to promotions that AFM personnel felt they deserved but did not receive.
The ministry also downplayed suggestions of election manoeuvring in that case.