Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Malta (Ratification: 1965)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not provide information on the specific issues raised. It must therefore repeat its previous observation which read as follows:

Repetition

Article 1 of the Convention. The Committee recalls that it had previously requested the Government to indicate the procedures applicable for the examination of allegations of anti-union dismissals by public officers, port workers and public transport workers given that those categories are excluded from the jurisdiction of the industrial tribunal pursuant to section 75(1) of the Employment and Industrial Relations Act 2002 (EIRA). The Committee had noted from the Government’s report that public officers have the right to appeal to the Public Service Commission, an independent body (the members are appointed by the President of Malta acting on the advice of the Prime Minister given after a consultation with the Leader of the Opposition and they cannot be removed except for inability or misbehaviour causes) established under section 109 of the Constitution of Malta. The Committee also notes from the Government’s report that the Public Service Commission’s primary role is to ensure that disciplinary action taken against public officers is fair, prompt and effective. The Committee requests the Government to indicate, with regard to cases of anti-union dismissal, whether the Public Service Commission is empowered to grant such compensatory relief – including reinstatement and back pay awards – as to constitute sufficiently dissuasive sanctions against acts of anti-union discrimination. The Committee also once again requests the Government to indicate the procedures applicable for the examination of allegations of anti union dismissals of port workers and public transport workers.

Articles 2 and 3. Protection against acts of interference. The Committee recalls that it had previously requested the Government to indicate the measures taken or contemplated so as to introduce in the legislation an explicit prohibition of acts of interference, as well as sufficiently dissuasive sanctions against such acts given that the EIRA does not expressly protect employers’ and workers’ organizations from acts of interference by one another, in each other’s affairs. The Committee once again requests the Government to indicate in its next report, the measures taken or contemplated so as to introduce in the legislation an explicit prohibition of acts of interference, as well as sufficiently dissuasive sanctions against such acts.

Article 4. Collective bargaining. The Committee recalls that it had previously requested the Government to indicate the measures taken or contemplated with a view to amending section 6 of the National Holidays and Other Public Holidays Act, so as to ensure that this provision: (i) does not render automatically null and void any provisions in existing collective agreements which grant workers the right to recover public holidays falling on a Saturday or Sunday; and (ii) does not preclude voluntary negotiations in the future over the issue of granting workers the right to recover national or public holidays which fall on a Saturday or Sunday on the basis of a collective agreement (see 342nd Report of the Committee on Freedom of Association, Case No. 2447, paragraph 752). The Committee once again requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or contemplated with a view to amending section 6 of the National Holidays and Other Public Holidays Act.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the very near future.