Employers rightly expect the government to act as a role model in the management of industrial relations. Today, thousands of workers face an uncertain future because of the medical and economic crises caused by the pandemic. They rely on continued government support financed by taxpayers as their future employment remains at risk.
The deal reached between the government and dismissed Air Malta pilots undermines the trust that should exist between employers and their employees in the way that the norms of industrial relations are managed.
In essence, taxpayers’ money is being used to honour a promise made by a rogue minister to Air Malta pilots – in the form of a side letter to a collective agreement – to provide them with belt and braces protection against career uncertainty. Of course, no such protection is being promised to the tens of thousands of workers who have to manage economic uncertainty daily.
The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry rightly expressed its concern about this irresponsible action by Konrad Mizzi, a former government minister notorious for his alleged abuse of power when in a position of trust. It is more than justified in arguing that “the differential treatment of employment relations is unacceptable, unfair and unwarranted at any time, even more so during such trying times”.
The Malta Employers’ Association was equally scathing, calling the deal to employ pilots with the public service at the same take-home pay as they enjoyed with the airline as contradicting the notion of equal pay for work of equal value.
While Air Malta was not a party to the agreement when it was signed in 2018, the government felt that it was legally bound to back up the abusive decision of the former minister. It would have been more appropriate for the government to challenge the validity of this agreement in a court of law even at the risk of being unsuccessful.
Unfortunately, the incompetence and individual abusive decisions made by politicians are not criminal offences even if they cost taxpayers dearly. Now the government faces judgment in the court of public opinion.
The deal to compensate the redundant Air Malta pilots has a worrying political backdrop that continues to undermine the recovery of the national airline. For a long time, Air Malta has been managed not so much by its board of directors but by political principals who put electoral expediency before commercial considerations. How could the board of directors of Air Malta in 2018 accept that an important business decision linked to the management of industrial relations be made by a politician rather than by them?
Air Malta continues to face very challenging times. The pandemic has not helped but the root of the national airline’s problems have a political origin. These problems are made more complicated by the inability of the present and past directors to assert their independence in deciding what the best options are for the company they lead.
The EU competition authorities are likely to give Air Malta and other airlines hit by the pandemic more time to recover. But it will indeed be wasted time if the government does not take this opportunity to cut the umbilical cord between its ministers and the airline.
The interest of taxpayers has, for many years, been a low priority for different administrations. This failure is not only unfair but undermines the principles of social justice.
It is a black day for industrial relations when a government guarantees exclusive protection against economic uncertainty to a particular group of workers.