Malta’s state broadcaster PBS is requiring unvaccinated workers to present a negative PCR test every week in order to enter its head office in Luqa, a union has said.
The new policy, UĦM – Voice of the Workers said, effectively means workers must take a COVID-19 booster dose or end up out of pocket for a weekly test.
The union said workers had received a note informing them that anyone entering PBS premises would have to show a valid vaccine certificate as of January 17.
“Otherwise,” the note continued, “individuals seeking an exemption from this requirement for justified reasons, should provide a weekly negative PCR test to the Administration Department,” the policy states.
State-provided PCR tests are free, but a backlog means appointments can be hard to schedule. Privately-administered PCR tests cost upwards of €100.
Locally-issued vaccine certificates are valid for three months from the date of completion of an initial course of COVID-19 vaccines, or for nine months from the date of receiving a booster dose.
The UĦM, which has criticised the policy as illegal, said that PBS had justified its policy by citing preliminary findings of an occupational health and safety assessment concerning the COVID pandemic.
The intention, PBS told the union, was to ensure employees were offered a “safe working environment.” It said that broadcasting could be interrupted if a COVID outbreak forced many of its workers into quarantine.
Rules requiring a valid vaccine certificate for entry into certain locations came into force last Monday - the same day that PBS introduced its new policy.
The legal notice concerning those rules lists restaurants, cafes, theatres, ċinemas, gyms and sporting events, among the places which can only be accessed by vaccine certificate holders. Offices are not listed in the relevant legal notice, the UĦM said.
Union CEO Josef Vella said that the PBS decision ran counter to information given to trade unions and employers just last week, during an employment relations board meeting.
Vella said that during that meeting, “it was made amply clear that only those places listed in the legal notice are to take such measures. What is the point of holding these discussions, if some employers then decide to do as they please? Apart from fuelling confusion the PBS’ policy is of concern as it goes beyond the legal notice and impinges on workers’ rights,” he said.
The union noted that not even essential workers such as doctors, nurses, power station employees, police officers, port workers and teachers are being obliged to take the booster jab.