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8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 JUNE 2023 NEWS Nurses' agreement nears conclusion, but union wants to wait for ECG technicians Air Malta: Ball remains stuck in Brussels' court KARL AZZOPARDI COLLECTIVE agreement talks between government and the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses have reached conclusive stages, MaltaToday has learnt. The process, which has been marred by union strikes, political jabs and allegations from both sides, seems to have drawn nearer to conclusion. But closing the deal now hinges on another collective agreement for ECG technicians, which the MUMN wants to conclude. Speaking to MaltaToday, MUMN President Paul Pace said the union has not yet presented the nurses' sectoral agreement to its members, as it is waiting on another sectoral agreement for electrocardiogram (ECG) tech- nicians. Asked why he could not present the nurses' sectoral agreement, Pace insisted he cannot discrimi- nate among his members. "We don't just represent nurs- es, and we cannot discriminate between our members," he said. "Every member pays the fee." The MUMN chief said the ECG technicians' sectoral agreement expired more than a year ago, and no concrete proposal has been presented by government. "When both are concluded, the two packages will be presented to the members together," he said. Pace did confirm that an agree- ment for nurses was presented by government but was coy on whether he felt it was a positive step forward. "I have no guarantees it will be approved by the members, but from what I have seen, it is bet- ter than the one presented three months ago," Pace said. "I have to insist there is no guarantee it will be approved." However, nurses who ap- proached this newspaper were baffled as to why their union was putting the ECG technicians' agreement as a stumbling block when this was never mentioned before. They insisted the two agreements should be kept sepa- rate. Last March, nurses took indus- trial action across Malta's hospi- tals calling for better work condi- tions and pay. During an extraordinary gener- al meeting held in April, 98% of nurses present rejected a financial package presented to them by the government. Since then, things went quiet as both sides returned to the negoti- ating table. Questions sent to the health ministry over the nurses' collec- tive agreement were left unan- swered by the time of writing. Investigation into Paul Pace alle- gations Last April, when union strikes were in full swing, Labour stal- wart Emanuel Cuschieri claimed on his radio show that Paul Pace went on holiday to Egypt between February 16 and 28 while he was on leave. But despite being on vacation and not being able to report to work at Mount Carmel, Pace re- ported having worked overtime from 12pm till 6pm on the 16th, from 10am till 6pm on the 18th, from 8am till 6pm on the 26th, and from 1pm till 7pm on the 28th. "And the 26th was a Sunday, so he was asking to be paid double," Cuschieri said, insisting the claim should be investigated by the rele- vant authorities. Two days before Cuschieri's ra- dio programme, Pace had just sus- pended a series of directives that were issued to nurses at health centres and at the Gozo General Hospital. The health ministry said it would be investigating the claims, and replying to questions by this newspaper this week, it said inves- tigations are still ongoing. "It is pertinent to note that this investigation is completely un- related to the discussions on the collective agreement," a ministry spokesperson said. Questioned on the matter, Pace said he has no issue with being in- vestigated, once again denying all allegations made against him. "I will continue to work with serenity, and I will not let anyone intimidate me. And I wait without fear for the investigation to con- clude," he said. KURT SANSONE AIR Malta's fate hangs on a thread and the hand holding it belongs to the European Commission as it navigates the treacherous waters of state aid. Brussels has so far not given any indica- tion of when it will deliver its verdict on the Maltese government's request to inject state aid into the airline. Sources in Brussels have told MaltaToday the Commission is being "extra careful" in its deliberations in the wake of rulings by the European Court of Justice that annulled state aid decisions in favour of Lufthansa and SAS. "The Commission has already been bit- ten twice having seen the ECJ annul its decisions on state aid and it does not want a repeat, which is why it is taking its time to reach a conclusion on Air Malta," the sources said. In June 2020, the Commission had ap- proved German plans to contribute €6 billion to the recapitalisation of Lufthansa subject to commitments to limit distortions of competition. A month later the Commission approved the Danish and Swedish aid to contribute up to SEK 11 billion (approximately €1 bil- lion) to the recapitalisation of SAS. However, both decisions were annulled by the ECJ last May following complaints by low cost carrier Ryanair. After the court decision, Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager said the Commission will "carefully study" the judgments and their implications. "We are aware of the uncertainty the judg- ments generate for the airlines concerned and the aviation sector at large. While it is too early to give any indication as to what the appropriate course of action may be, at this stage all options are on the table," she said. It appears the ECJ's rulings have put a spanner in the works, leaving Air Malta's future in abeyance. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Clyde Caru- ana remains mum about the negotiations that have taken place. "Everything is with the European Commission and we just have to wait for their decision," he told MaltaTo- day. The minister insisted he will speak only when he has something new to say. The toing and froing between the Maltese government and the European Commis- sion has been going on for more than two years. The grounding of aircraft during the pandemic worsened an already dire finan- cial situation at the airline. Meanwhile, government embarked on a rationalisation exercise last year by drasti- cally cutting down the number of employ- ees at Air Malta. The redundancy and early retirement schemes cost more than €60 million. Air Malta has already benefitted once from a concession to be granted state aid since Malta's membership of the EU. But the 2012 exercise failed to make the airline profitable despite a reduction in employees and a mandatory reduction in the number of aircraft. The latest attempt is a last-ditch effort by the government to save the airline but any state aid agreement with the European Commission will come with conditions if approved. The ministry has plans in place to set up a new airline if Air Malta is forced to close down but Caruana has been adamant that the intention is to save the airline and put it on a profitable footing. Union insists that a collective agreement for nurses hinges on government presenting another collective agreement for electrocardiogram (ECG) technicians MUMN president Paul Pace Air Malta is not yet out of the stormy clouds as it waits for the European Commission's decision on state aid