“Give us our rights!”

Spanish operator Autobuses de Leon, owner of Malta Public Transport (MPT), has to stop delaying granting the official recognition to UĦM in representation of its workers.
During a press conference UĦM’s Chief Executive Josef Vella insisted that there is no ground for MPT to procrastinate on an issue that is having negative effects not just on its workforce but also on the public at large.
During the press conference, Josef Vella was accompanied by MPT workers’ representatives as well as by the President of the Polish trade union Solidarnosc and the Spanish union Union Sindical Obrera (USO), that represents workers from Autobuses de Leon in Spain.
“Why is it taking Autobuses de Leon so long to recognize UĦM as the transport workers’ union of their choice?” The company knows full well that UĦM enjoys the trust of the majority of its workers. This fact is not just being communicated by the workers; it is also being corraborated by the GWU.
Bartho Pronk, President of the European Centre for Workers’ Questions (EZA), Piotr Duda, President of Solidarnosc and Joachim Perez da Silva, Communications Officer from USO, joined UĦM in its plight and expressed solidarity with all MPT workers who are being denied their basic right of representation.
This recognition claim has been going on for two years, making this the longest recognition issue in Maltese trade union history.
UĦM Voice of the Workers has yet to receive an official letter of recognition from the Spanish operator, without which discussions between the two sides cannot commence. Minutes after the industrial actions commenced, the Department of Industrial Relations and Employment (DIER) issued an official report that UĦM won the verification exercise with a majority of 56.3%