The comparatively good salaries enjoyed by Air Malta staff members present a stumbling block to the government in its plan to redeploy airline workers to its departments and other entities, according to two employees.

When Finance Minister Clyde Caruana announced in January that the government was halving the workforce in a bid save the national airline, he made it clear no employees would become redundant.

They would be recruited by government entities enjoying the same wages and conditions they had at Air Malta, he pledged.

But, four months on and with just two months to go to the deadline agreed with the GWU to give alternative jobs to 571 workers, only a small percentage of them have settled into new jobs.

'There is a huge difference'

A member of the airline’s engineering department said it was evident from the start the government would have a problem given the discrepancy in wages.

“We have worked with the airline for many years. The engineering sections never once stopped working in 47 years. We work shifts, holidays, nights and many of us have been here long, so our wages are good,” explained the engineer, who asked to remain anonymous.

“Some earn €60,000, €70,000 even €80,000 a year. Compare those to the wages for a job within a government office... there is a huge difference.

“If a former Air Malta employee joins a government department with a pay package like that, it creates an imbalance seeing that his seniors get half of that or less.”

Another airline worker, a loader in the ground handling section, said that, when one puts together their monthly salary, wages and all shift allowances, their pay package rose to about €35,000.

“We were promised the same take-home package wherever we are relocated but this is proving to be difficult,” he said.

The engineer said rumours were circulating that the government was considering pay-outs to solve the issue.

“But time is running out and even if the minister is considering this option, no one has approached us,” he said.

“Some of us are 58, some are 60... it won’t be easy for some of us to find another job if the government cannot provide one for us, even if there are pay-outs.”

The engineer said that the government had not done its workings properly before the general election.

“They were in such a hurry to try and sort this out that they did not do their calculations. And, perhaps, they thought not so many would opt for the scheme but the attitude of management drove the workers to go for the relocation”.

He also expressed uncertainty as to whether the airline would save money by letting go of its employees.

“They will need to employ other engineers, so I cannot understand how the airline is going to save money,” he said.

The GWU, which represents a large proportion of the 571 airline employees who opted for the government scheme, has denied they were having discussions with the government about pay-outs.

Secretary Josef Bugeja said the agreement was that the government would retain workers with current wages and all allowances from 2019 and the union had no intention of negotiating on that.

The government has so far failed to answer questions it was sent about the relocation exercise.