A decision by Air Malta pilots to call industrial action last Monday had nothing to do with early retirement funds, a court heard on Friday.
Rather, the union was insisting that one of the airline's representatives should withdraw from collective agreement talks because of what was viewed as a disruptive attitude.
The union was also calling for the restoration of a health insurance scheme for pilots.
ALPA, the pilots' union, on Monday ordered its members to delay flights by 30 minutes but a court subsequently issued a temporary warrant of prohibitory injunction until the case was heard.
Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi had said that the issue was over a pilots' demand for a guarantee that they would get an early retirement sum of €700,000, even if the airline folded.
But union representatives indicated on Friday that was not the issue.
They told the court that their negotiations with Air Malta were failing on account of the presence of chief flight operations officer Emvic Debono, whose withdrawal had been requested but was ignored.
Captain Matthew Degiorgio, representing ALPA, testified that the union had formally requested Capt Debono’s withdrawal from the talks on June 18.
This request, however, went unheeded and Captain Debono continued to take an active role in negotiations, attending the last two meetings right up to June 28.
Threats to union officials
Capt Degiorgio said the airline officer’s resignation was also being sought on account of unfounded threats of disciplinary action against members of the ALPA executive committee, including himself.
Two other members of the executive committee had also been threatened with disciplinary action, one of them after being ordered “illegally” to fly to St Petersburg.
Eventually, all three cases of disciplinary proceedings had been withdrawn because they lacked basis.
Captain Degiorgio said the decision to take industrial action had been taken “in the best interests of both parties” since Captain Debono was viewed as an “impediment and a hindrance for talks to be concluded,” and failed to enjoy the trust of both sides at the negotiating table.
“It was only because Air Malta persisted in sending Emvic Debono as its mouthpiece in the discussions that were doomed to fail,” Captain Degiorgio stressed when asked directly by Mr Justice Toni Abela, as to why industrial action had been resorted to.
Following the last meeting of June 28, the union had sent a WhatsApp message to a closed group chat putting pilots on notice to be ready to take industrial action from July 1.
That communication had somehow been leaked to Air Malta management, Captain Degiorgio testified.
Reference was also made during Friday’s sitting to the “guarantee” reportedly requested by ALPA concerning the early retirement scheme payment of €700,000.
Capt Degiorgio said that the only guarantee on the negotiating table related to a permanent health insurance which had been ‘lost’ when their collective agreement was revised. The union was insisting that it be restored
“Did you discuss any other guarantee by the state?” Dr Ronald Galea Cavallazzi, representing the airline, asked.
“I did not,” replied Captain Degiorgio, adding that there had been no official meetings with the authorities on this issue.
Dr Galea Cavallazzi argued that an email of June 18, when the union formally requested Capt Debono’s withdrawal, was nothing but an excuse for industrial action.
He insisted that the union had “no divine right to take industrial action” and legal and contractual limitations had to be respected.
Air Malta's damages as a result of industrial action
Air Malta’s Chief Commercial Officer, Paul Sies, said the airline risked making an estimated daily loss of €160,000 if the industrial action went ahead.
He said that the pilots’ action had disturbed airline bookings since passengers chose not to fly with the airline or delay booking. Besides, code-sharing partners had indicated that they would re-evaluate their partnership if the situation continued.
Rebutting, Captain Degiorgio said the 30-minute delay would not have negatively impacted the airline to such an extent since Air Malta flights had an average delay of 19 minutes and thus their 11-minute extension would not have caused such impact.
Besides, on July 1 the airline had planes stuck abroad due to inclement weather.
Union committee members sued by airline
“This is a David and Goliath situation,” Dr Andre' Portelli, ALPA counsel, argued, pointing out further that the five members of the union’s executive committee had been sued in their personal capacity, exposing them to the risk of possible freezing of assets if the request for an injunction were to be upheld.
The court noted that the five were being sued in their capacity as representatives of ALPA.
At the end of the three-hour hearing, the court declared that it would issue its decision in chambers.
Mr Justice Abela pointed out that the law allowed one-month limit for the delivery of such a decree. He urged both sides to make good use of this time to seek an amicable solution.
“This is a national airline. There are no winners or losers in a court case. Take this opportunity to seek a solution so that goodwill might prevail, he said.