Transport Malta said on Saturday that it has agreed to a new collective agreement for its employees.

The agreement brings to the end a protracted negotiation process that had spilt into an industrial dispute earlier in the year.

Sealed with workers’ union UĦM – Voice of the Workers, the deal will see employees in various grades at the transport regulator pocket “substantial” salary increases, “better benefits, improved working conditions, more justice and equality between workers” and improved compassionate leave conditions,. Transport Malta said.

No details about the specifics of the collective agreement were revealed.

The agreement will cover the following grades:

• Overtime Grades
• Maritime Professionals with Regulatory & Inspectorate Functions (Merchant Shipping Directorate)
• Managerial & Professional Grades
• Architects & Civil Engineers
• Civil Aviation Directorate Grades

Transport Malta CEO Jonathan Borg thanked negotiators within the agency’s People and Standards Division for their work to strike a deal, as well as members of UĦM and the Transport Ministry.