Steward employees at Karin Grech Rehabilitation Hospital and the Gozo Hospital have been ordered not to answer emails and phone calls while some professionals will not attend ward rounds upon the instructions of their union. 

The UĦM Voice of the Workers issued wide-ranging directives for its members who work in hospitals run by Steward, which took over the Gozo General Hospital, St Luke’s and Karin Grech Hospital from Vitals Global Healthcare at the end of 2017. 

In a statement, the union said that ever since it was declared as the sole representative of Steward HealthCare workers, it lobbied the government to absorb these workers so that the basic principle of equal pay for equal work is respected.

However, the silence was deafening so the union was issuing directives for its members, whoever their employer. 

It said that anyone who wanted to complain about the directives or how they were being affected was urged to call the Prime Minister’s Office on 2500 0000 to get their complaints across. 

Among others, some professionals will not attend ward rounds, new cases will be seen after 48 hours and no home visits will be carried out.