Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1232859
4 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 8 APRIL 2020 NEWS SCOOTER 001 SHARING THE PRESENT, SO WE CAN BUILD A BETTER FUTURE. One app. Over 450 shared vehicles. Pay per minute, per hour or per day. goto.com.mt/download * Rate per minute for Scooter trips on the GoTo Business Plan. Terms and Conditions apply. €1.50 PAGE 2 PAGE 5 Silvio Schembri apologises for 'unfortunate' foreign workers comments Banking customers offered home loan moratorium due to Covid-19 THURSDAY 19 MARCH 2020 • ISSUE 50 WWW.BUSINESSTODAY.COM.MT DAVID HUDSON A rescue package worth €1.8 bil- lion has been unveiled to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on the economy. PAGE 3 PAGE 2 Editorial PAGE 9 RIDING OUT THE STORM AND SAVING JOBS Coronavirus Government announces €1.8b rescue package to mitigate crisis Robert Abela BOV registers pre-tax profit of €89.2m • Government to pay companies €350 per employee on quarantine leave • Businesses ordered to shut down temporarily, will receive two days of assistance per week per employee Id-dinja dieħla f'riċessjoni? U Malta? www.illum.com.mt ARA PAĠNI 12 u 13 €1.25 IL-ĦADD 22 TA' MARZU 2020 • NRU 701 'Il-Gvern huwa rrassenjat li se nitilfu x-xogħol. Mentri aħna rridu nsalvawh' 'ROBERT GĦINNA QABEL IKUN TARD WISQ' Il-GWU, l-MHRA, il-GRTU, il-FATTA u l-UĦM mal-ILLUM iwissu li jekk il-Gvern mhux se jħabbar miżuri ġodda se jibdew jingħalqu n-negozji u jintilfu l-impjiegi, speċjalment fit-turiżmu, fir-ristoranti u d-divertiment! ARA PAĠNI 4 u 5 PAĠNI 10 u 11 SUNDAY • 22 MARCH 2020 • ISSUE 1064 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY €1.95 maltatoday This won't work, Robert EDITORIAL MT2 ROBERT Abela's package does not go far enough and will not work. Malta has entered a war which has destabilised the economy and all its workers. Abela cannot be scared of spending and rack- ing up the necessary government debt needed for a national stim- ulus now: the risks of not acting will be greater than what lies ahead in the next months. He must alleviate economic hard- ship during the epidemic to pre- vent lasting damage to the econ- omy by stopping this recession from turning into the next Great Depression. What Malta needs is a form of universal credit for all, to keep aggregate demand up and so that idle workers at home can return straight to work at the end of the crisis and restore the supply chain. STAY IN, STAY SAFE, WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT/COVID19 Our appeal is simple: Maltese businesses must be sustained by keeping workers in a job with a social insurance that sustains their wages CLAUDIO GRECH 'We cannot allow Maltese businesses to fail. We would be failing society' INTERVIEW MT2 Never before has your support of free and independent journalism been so crucial Support us with a subscription or a donation maltatoday.com.mt/maltatodaydigitaledition CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 But sources said the UCC was still opposing the offer from Air Malta. Cabin crew employ- ees on definite contracts who spoke to MaltaToday claimed the union was showing prefer- ence to cabin crew on indefi- nite contracts with better sal- aries of some €2,600 a month. "It is undemocratic that the UCC has asked those involved in the petition to suspended themselves from the union. This is undemocratic for mem- bers who are not able to vote on an issue that involves the liveli- hood of all the employees." Air Malta told the UCC yes- terday afternoon it would ter- minate contracts for some 140 full-time cabin crew on definite contracts if it does not accept the €1,200 a month offer. Definite contract employees were previously paid a €1,500 basic salary, topped up accord- ing to the number of hours they worked. 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 vaca- tion carried forward from 2019, and for all 2020; then work re- duced hours, with correspond- ing reduction in salary that will range from 40% to 80%; if the situation deteriorates, workers will go on forced unpaid leave, being called in to work on an 'as needed' basis, being remu- nerated only for hours effec- tively worked. Apart from this, the airline wants UCC members to forgo an annual adjustment where actual salaries are grossed up at the end of the year to equate to the employee's take home pay. The UCC has told MaltaTo- day the Air Malta proposal came as a take-it-or-leave-it offer, and that the airline had prematurely informed a num- ber of employees on definite term contracts that it would not be renewing their contract at end-April, pitting cabin crew members against each other. The UCC said its employees have already suffered a sig- nificant reduction in their in- comes, which are made up of a basic salary and flying hours al- lowances, which at the moment have been reduced to almost zero. "While management ex- pects the UCC to agree to these measures, top management has only given leave days and other perks as part of the substantial pay cut," the UCC said. The UCC said it had not re- fused the Air Malta offer, but only wanted clarifications and guarantees from the airline. While the Association of Air- line Engineers has accepted a basic salary offer of €1,200 af- ter a vote endorsed by 90% of the union's members, the air- line pilots association ALPA has not replied to the airline's offer. While pilots' salaries have al- ready been cut by some 30% due to reduced flying hours affect- ing their performance-based pay, ALPA spokesperson Dom- inic Azzopardi has already refused to accept a €1,200 monthly salary. An airline source claims Air Malta management has accept- ed a "significant pay-cut" in salary, although these were not quantified. "The airline's hands are tied by the zero-revenue situation until all major airports open. It could take months, so it's im- possible for the airline to live beyond its means, the source said. But the ALPA spokesperson said the union will only sit down to consider a salary cut if they see management taking similar wage cuts, and if they are invited to discuss further restructuring of the airline. "Reducing our salaries will not solve anything for the air- line. Management should be cutting down on third-party commitments... we should dis- cuss 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. 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. Cabin crew on definite contracts say UCC is favouring employees on indefinite contracts