Unions seek answers from resources regulator
'We kept hoping the PM would meet us'
The 11 unions disputing the new utility bills have turned to the Malta Resources Authority to clarify a number of issues after the Prime Minister adamantly refused to meet them. Over the past four weeks, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi twice directed the unions to the MRA and they finally relented yesterday by writing to ask for the information they seek.
The unions asked for a chronological statement of the revision process and for details on the authority's involvement in the matter, asking the regulator to treat their questions with urgency. They also requested copies of any correspondence and relative reports, including the study on the social impact of the revised rates if such a report had been commissioned and taken into consideration.
Originally, 20 unions formed a united front over the new water and electricity tariffs being drawn up, attending marathon meetings with Dr Gonzi. But when the tariffs were made official, 11 of the unions expressed concern over certain elements and requested a meeting with Dr Gonzi seeking further clarifications.
The Confederation of Malta Trade Unions and its affiliates, which include the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin, Malta's second-largest union, had, however, agreed with the published tariffs, which they said reflected exactly what had been agreed upon around the table.
The 11 other unions repeatedly requested a meeting with Dr Gonzi, who kept directing them to the regulator. They had held firm until yesterday, saying the MRA was never present during the meetings they had on the tariffs. They insisted their questions were about the social impact the new rates were having on families and, consequently, could only be answered by a politician.
Last week, the unions directed consumers not to pay their bills within the 45-day time window imposed by the service providers. The directive was issued after the deadline they had given the Prime Minister to accede to their request for a meeting expired.
Asked why the unions had waited so long before writing to the MRA, the president of the Malta Union of Teachers, John Bencini, said they kept hoping Dr Gonzi would meet them. "We had hoped the Prime Minister would agree to a meeting but it seems it's OK if he meets all the unions, but not just 11 of us," he said when contacted yesterday.
"The Prime Minister usually has an open-door policy and that is why we were hoping he would meet us, but we are not hard-headed so we wrote to the authority.
"I would not be surprised if the authority does not reply to our letter because it probably does not have the replies to all our questions," he said.
The 11 unions are the General Workers' Union, the MUT, the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, the Union of Cabin Crew, the Union Ħaddiema Bank Ċentrali, the Union Technical and Clerical Mepa, the Union Professjonisti Awtorità għall-Ambjent u Ppjanar, the University of Malta Academic Staff Association, the Airline Pilots Association, the Union Periti u Inġiniera Servizz Pubbliku and the Association of Airline Engineers.