Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/331448
Newspaper post WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION WEDNESDAY • 18 JUNE 2014 • issUE 369 • pUblishEd EvEry wEdNEsday aNd sUNday Editorial - PAGE 10 MIRIAM DALLI AND JURGEN BALZAN PUBLIC transport was yesterday morning hit by a two-hour strike after the Malta Public Transport Services (MPTS) failed to come to an agreement with Union Haddie- ma Maghqudin. The actions will continue this afternoon with another two-hour strike between 4 and 6pm unless agreement is reached, a union of- ficial said, adding that the actions could go beyond the current orders in the coming days. Addressing the media at the bus terminus in Floriana yesterday af- ternoon, UHM secretary-general Josef Vella said that bus drivers had been threatened that they would lose their job if they joined in the strike. He added that "workers should be given the right to choose which un- ion should represent them by hold- ing an internal election". Vella said he could not understand why the company was resisting an independent verification by the Di- rector of Employment, especially since this method was used to settle other disputes at the Malta Inter- national Airport, the Freeport and other companies. Insisting that the actions called yesterday were not a matter of po- litical or trade union rivalry, Vella said he felt confident that the ma- jority of public transport workers were members of the UHM. Union says bus drivers were threatened over strike actions €0.90 J O H N PI SA N I ROUGH seas around Gozo yesterday claimed the lives of three divers, t wo of whom were in a group of four. The deaths occurred w ithin f ive hours, w ith an elderly Austrian being the f irst to encouter dif f icu lties and lose his life. Subsequent ly, later in the same day, t wo other divers a lso drowned. The Austrian nationa l, aged 6 4, was div- ing at Reqqa Point. The police said that the man " found himself in dif f icu lt y whi le sw imming at Reqqa Point, Zebbug. The Austrian was brought ashore and was cer tif ied dead on the spot. Police investigations are ongo- ing". The other t wo deaths, believed to be of a woman and her companion, occurred less than f ive hours later, at about 4.20pm. They were in a group of four, three of whom are believed to be British, and were div ing in the v icinit y of Dwejra. Initia l ly, t wo of the divers were brought ashore and cer tif ied dead, whi le a search was mounted for the t wo others. A few minutes later, a third diver was a lso brought ashore and rushed to Gozo Genera l Hospita l, whi le the search for the four th diver continued – though it later emerged that the four th diver was found sa fe and sound. Yesterday's deaths bring the tota l of fa- ta lities by drowning this year to si x, a l l of whom were v isitors to Ma lta, f ive of them meeting their end in Gozo. Reqqa Point a lso proved to be cha l lenge for a diver aged 66 from Zebbug in June last year. The diver had found himself in distress at Reqqa Point when he was overcome by a wave which dragged him into a cave, where he struck his head against the rock as he was bu f feted by the water. The diver a lso lost his gogg les and f lippers during the incident. CONTINUES PAGE 3 Three divers' lives claimed in tragic day in Gozo BRAZIL 2014 Full match reports, scores, and previews for today's games in SPORTS pages 21-27 UHM secretary-general Josef Vella (centre) said that bus drivers had been threatened that they would lose their job if they joined the strike