The GWU has requested an urgent meeting with Transport Minister Joe Mizzi and the Arriva management to discuss the latest developments.

The call was made after the minister said this morning that government talks with bus operator Arriva have been exhausted and the outcome has been referred to legal and financial experts.

A GWU spokesman said that the union was seeking a guarantee that if there was a new operator, all the current employees would keep their job.

Speaking on the TVM breakfast show today, Mr Mizzi did not give a straight reply when asked if loss-making Arriva would stay on, saying that what was important for the government was that Malta had a serious, efficient bus service which operated punctually on new routes.

He said the reform would take some time since it took some six months for new buses to be ordered and delivered.

Asked by PN spokesman Toni Bezzina for a job guarantee for the Arriva workers, on whom 1,200 families depended, Mr Mizzi said an efficient bus service needed more vehicles, and that meant more workers were needed.

The Sunday Times of Malta reported last Sunday that Paramount Coaches, one of the leading private bus and coach operators in Malta, was interested in taking over the bus service should the long drawn-out negotiations between government and Arriva fail.

The sources said that one of the “least messy options” would be for Arriva to transfer its business to the new consortium rather than terminate its 10-year contract by mutual consent, or file for liquidation which would be the worst case scenario.