The Association of Airline Pilots on Monday morning filed a judicial protest against Air Malta and the Economy Minister over their intention to sack 108 pilots.
The protest claimed that the company’s failure and repeated refusal to enter into meaningful discussions prior to the collective redundancy made its action illegal and in breach of a number of laws and well as their fundamental human rights.
Last Friday, Economy Minister Silvio Schembri accused the union of attempting to “hijack” Air Malta with its refusal of the €1,200 basic monthly income on offer.
But the association claimed that by failing to protect the pilots from losing their jobs, the government was also in breach of its obligations.
It said that through a letter dated April 7, the airline had given notice of a collective redundancy of 108 of its pilots and the retention of just 26 pilots.
There was a 30-day time window for the employer to enter into meaningful discussions with employees and their representatives for a solution to be found. The notice was issued just two hours after a meeting.
However, the airline had written to the Director of Industrial and Employment Relations to reduce this time window to just 15 days and bring forward the redundancies to Tuesday. Apart from this, before the process even started, the association had already been denied vital information related to the collective redundancy. It said it was denied the opportunity to express its opinions and make its position know to the company.
The association said it had on a number of occasions requested the presence of the chief executive officer and of board members during official meetings.
However, the airline repeatedly refused to have these decision-makers attend the meetings. This, it said, adds to the lack of transparency on the matter.
The association said there was only one meeting with the airline but despite its requests for another meeting with decision-makers, no meeting was scheduled.
ALPA warned the company that it intended to proceed with a case against it before the Employment Tribunal because its action was “illegal and abusive”, given the lack of negotiations to avoid the dismissals as required by law.
Turning its attention to the government, ALPA said that a major shareholder, the government was failing to protect pilots’ jobs and was also failing to take those measures to soften the impact on workers. This was in breach of the obligation entered into by former Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi when he gave pilots a job guarantee in January 2018 and this until the signing of a new collective agreement.
"To date government representatives responsible for Air Malta are refusing to enter into any form of dialogue with ALPA," it said.
The association further stated that the airline would not be able to function properly with just 26 pilots once the situation returns to normal. It, therefore, called on the company and Economy Minister Silvio Schembri to desist from continuing with its plans to sack the 108 pilots and warned of further legal action in default.
The judicial protest was signed by lawyer Andre Portelli.