Updated 7.16pm with MUMN reaction
A judge has blocked the nurses' union from continuing its industrial action at Mater Dei Hospital after health authorities filed an urgent application in court on Saturday.
In a decree handed down later in the day, Mr Justice Robert Mangion upheld the request for a prohibitory injunction filed by the Health Ministry.
Last week the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses issued directives that would stop technicians from decontaminating and sterilising medical instruments used during operations and packaging them for upcoming surgeries.
The move prompted Mater Dei hospital’s chief executive Celia Falzon to ask the private sector to help in sterilising soiled surgical equipment to avoid having to postpone scheduled operations.
The request for an injunction says that the union’s action could stop all surgeries from taking place, including emergency operations and so the industrial action is disproportionate and totally excessive.
The judge provisionally upheld the request and gave the union until Thursday to submit its arguments. A sitting will be held the following Monday, September 27.
When announcing the action, MUMN president Paul Pace had said the issue revolves around the financial package offered to technicians in charge of sterilising the equipment.
The dispute also included phlebotomists, who draw blood, as well as dental surgery technicians who assist dentists.
In all, the directive was issued to some 180 people.
The union and health authorities have been in discussions over the matter for some nine months.
Nurses' union denounced attempts to silence it
The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses condemned the government's legal action to stop legitimate and legal industrial directives at Mater Dei Hospital on an industrial dispute over the agreement related to phlebotomists, sterile decontamination technicians and dental surgery assistants.
The MUMN said it had been patient with the government for nine months by attending meetings of these sectoral agreements with a view of reaching an agreement without the need to resort to any disputes.
It said that after the negotiating door was closed by the Office of the Prime Minister, the MUMN still tried to avoid an industrial dispute and attended a number of meetings at the Health Ministry but the government did not budge, leaving the union with no option but to order directives.
It said the main aim of the negotiations was to regularise these sectors as there were a number of carers who were handling the instruments without any training. The MUMN also insisted on continuous professional development for the benefit of patients admitted to Mater Dei Hospital.
It said it was careful that the industrial dispute did not affect emergencies and certain special operations.