Two new schemes for worker injustices dating back to 1970s launched

Workers who worked for International Aeradio Ltd or Rediffusion Group of Companies in the 1970s have been promised compensation for past injustices.

In a statement on Thursday, the Social Policy Ministry said it was launching new schemes to address “injustices” such workers suffered. The schemes follow various other such schemes launched in previous years for workers with other entities.

Minister Michael Falzon boasted that the government has spent roughly €90 million on such compensatory schemes in recent years.

The first scheme will focus on International Aeradio Ltd workers in the 1970s who were deployed at the airport working for the Department of Civil Aviation. When the last British base was closed in 1979, these workers were all given public sector roles.

These workers, or their heirs, will be receiving one-time compensation based on the number of years they spent working within the public sector from that year onwards.

The second scheme impacts Rediffusion Group of Companies workers who were assimilated into the Telemalta Corporation in the 1970s, as well as some other workers employed in the government’s broadcasting division before January 1, 1978.

It follows a 2023 court decision that instructed the Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) to implement pension scheme changes for various workers who were previously employed by the Rediffusion Group of Companies – a change implemented last year.

Some of those workers had subsequently sued Telemalta’s successor company, GO to obtain the same pension rights that PBS workers did. The court dismissed that appeal but the government is now stepping in to address this anomaly, the minister said.

Compensation for this scheme will be spread across a number of years and will be paid to those workers or their heirs.

Details of the schemes will be published in the government gazette. Applications will be accepted until the end of July, with payments expected to begin in November.