Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1231020
2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 APRIL 2020 CORONAVIRUS CRISIS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 "Reducing our salaries will not solve anything for the air- line. Management should be cutting down on third-party commitments… we should discuss airline leases. We want the satisfaction that we can be partners at the same table to discuss the airline's restruc- turing if we are to endure wage cuts," Azzopardi said. With airplanes grounded and just a handful of flights carry- ing crucial cargo and medical equipment, Air Malta sources told MaltaToday that ALPA was refusing to entertain Air Malta's proposal, even inform- ing management that its mem- bers cannot gather to discuss and vote on the proposal due to the coronavirus pandemic. "This proposal does not seem fair. It's too vague," Azzopardi told MaltaToday. "Will man- agement take a 30% cut on its salary just as we have done?" Pilots' average gross salaries are €140,000 for captains, and €80,000 for first officers. Even without flying, pilots are left with substantial salaries that do not reflect the state of the shuttered airline right now. "Even unions representing other Air Malta employees are stunned by ALPA's intransi- gence," an airline official told MaltaToday. "Now that the company is in such a dire sit- uation, ALPA is giving it the cold shoulder. This is highly irresponsible and could lead to the complete winding down of Air Malta." Cabin crew disagreement A bid by Air Malta to offer cabin crew members reduced salaries of €1,200 has exposed fault-lines in the Union of Cab- in Crew, as workers scramble to avoid redundancies and stay on the airline's books. A substantial number of cabin crew employees have instructed a lawyer to inform the airline that they are in par- tial agreement with official proposals put forward by Air Malta, where each employee whose principal employment is with the airline and is cov- ered by a collective agreement will receive the reduced salary. The airline will not renew the contracts of 140 full-time cabin crew employees on defi- nite contracts, unless the UCC accepts the lower salary. Defi- nite contract employees were previously paid a €1,500 basic salary, topped up according to the number of hours they worked. The proposal by Air Malta is to pay workers a monthly income equivalent to the av- erage during the preceding 12 months, capped at €1,200 gross in a bid to reduce the risk of job terminations. A lawyer representing a sub- stantial number of Air Malta cabin crew employees claimed the UCC has allegedly "not been acting in favour of the in- terests of the majority of cabin crew members". In her letter to the Depart- ment for Industrial and Em- ployment Relations (DIER), lawyer Mariah Mula said she was initiating petition pro- ceedings against the UCC's position, saying it did not re- flect the interests of the ma- jority of Air Malta's cabin crew employees. "It appears the UCC has al- legedly proposed its conclu- sions to both the airline com- pany and the DIER without the necessary consultation and approval required of all its members. Most of the cabin crew employees that have so far approached me are greatly disturbed by the fact that the UCC is proposing an equal percentage pay-cut from their basic salary for a definite peri- od," Mula said. The extraordinary number of cancellations and travel bans due to the COVID-19 out- break have robbed Air Malta, already believed to have regis- tered some €30 million in loss- es during 2019, of vital reve- nues that will compound the huge financial decline. Air Malta currently employs 338 employees covered by the collective agreement conclud- ed with the UCC. The airline is proposing that workers utilise their paid va- Cabin crew members disagree with union CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 "Foreign markets suffered heavy losses… US equities registered the worst year since the finan- cial crisis," the NDSF said in its report on the year. The value of the portfolio now stands at €97.55 million, a loss of €2.45 million. During 2018 the NDSF received €100.6 million from the Individ- ual Investor Programme (IIP), bringing total funds in the poster- ity fund to €466.1 million. Of the funds received from Identity Malta, 30% is given to the Central Bank to invest in high quality financial instruments to preserve capital. The other 70% is used for social and development purposes and is administered by the NDSF's governors, to fund social and economic initiatives which may have no direct finan- cial return. The NDSF said markets in 2018 proved to be volatile, with re- al returns across ten major asset classes have been mostly negative – the first time in 25 years. The NDSF has also carried out investments in social housing and other charities, as well as finan- cial investments. In August 2018, NDSF acquired from Cypriot Popular Bank a 49.1% shareholding in Lombard Bank for €47.9 million, an invest- ment which as the NDSF declares is not strategic but only served to facilitate the exit of the Cypriot shareholder from one of Malta's established and respected banks and also the major shareholder of Malta's postal service, Maltapost. "It is a measure taken by NDSF in terms of its founding regula- tions to support business and en- terprise, in this case an important operator in the domestic banking sector." The NDSF also invested a further €6.4 million in various equities and €3.4 million in various bonds listed on the stock exchange. An- other €52.3 million were used to acquire Malta government stock, of which it later sold €45.5 mil- lion realising a profit of €189,000. As at end-2018, the NDSF held €274 million in unallocated cash at the Central Bank. The NDSF in 2018 also financed new medical equipment with a €950,000 grant, as well as having funded two major social housing projects and the Puttinu Cares charity's London apartments, for a total of €55 million. Posterity fund investments lose value but retains €274 million in unallocated cash MATTHEW VELLA PN leader Adrian Delia yester- day reiterated a call for an ur- gent summit of the European People's Party to discuss the position of Hungarian member party Fidesz. Delia yesterday stressed that the COVID-19 crisis was a Europe-wide challenge that necessitated a reaffirmation of the EPP parties' values, which he said were threatened by open-ended emergency laws approved by Viktor Orban in Hungary. "The situation regarding Fidesz's membership of the EPP family has now reached a point where the EPP must speak with one voice," Delia said, who wrote to EPP Pres- ident Donald Tusk for an ur- gent video conference summit that could demand the expul- sion of Orban from the EPP. But the EPP's secretary-gen- eral Simon Busuttil, Delia's predecessor, has been less vocal about the new regime laws implemented by Orban: twice Busuttil forwarded Mal- taToday's questions to the EPP press service when asked whether he agreed with Article 7 sanctions against the Hun- garian strongman. In the past Busuttil has been taken to task by the Labour Party over comments in the EP in which he defended the Hun- garian EPP member. In 2012, Orban defended constitutional changes on the central bank, the judiciary and data protec- tion authority, which attracted legal proceedings from the Eu- ropean Commission concern- ing the institutions' independ- ence. The European Parliament then approved a resolution whether to activate Article 7 of the EU Treaty, which is used to investigate breaches of EU values. The resolution – tabled by centre-left and left political groups – was approved 315- 263 with 49 abstentions. But it drew strong criticism from the EPP. Busuttil, whose future role as PN leader would be carved in the shadow of the Labour lead- ership's Panama corruption crisis, was deferent to the Hun- garian leader and his country. "Mr President, this debate is unprecedented. It is the first time we have debated infringe- ment proceedings of this na- ture in this institution and in the presence of the highest Eu- ropean authorities, including no less than the Prime Minis- ter of the country at the centre of the debate," Busuttil said in his contribution on the plenary debate on rule of law in Hun- gary back in 2020. While not opposing Arti- cle 7 proceedings, Busuttil said Hungary should be giv- en time to resolve matters with the Commission. "We must distinguish between the legal process – the due pro- cess – and the public political debate. This House can very well express its political views, but this is not a tribunal and it should not replace the le- gal and judicial process. We should therefore give time for the legal process to take place and hold back from jumping to conclusions until this pro- cess, led by the Commission, is completed. Further action on our part at this stage is not just premature, but could also do more harm than good because it would damage the respect that our institution enjoys with the Hungarian people as much as it would damage the image of Hungary." Delia wants EPP to show Orban the door, Busuttil says little