Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/527016
A proposal by Air Malta chairman Maria Micallef to save the be- leaguered airline €1 million in wage bills by transferring part-time workers to quality control specialists Inspectra, has been shelved fol- lowing a backlash from the Union of Cabin Crew (UCC). Cabin crew part-timers also protested with Tourism Minister Ed- ward Zammit Lewis, who made his views known to Micallef, effec- tively shelving her plan. Under a €230 million restructuring plan, the airline has to cut costs and achieve a financial turnaround. But with its finances nowhere near 2016's target, the airline is now considering a 'strategic partner- ship' with Turkish Airlines. Micallef 's proposal, announced at a staff meeting at Inspire offices in Marsaskala on 5 May, was to have Inspectra pay a lower €6.70 part-time hourly rate to the present €11 hourly rate, and a reduced allowance for Sundays and feast days, so as to outsource the workers back to the airline. She said transferring the part-timers to Inspectra would save Air Malta €1 million, annually. But her unimpressed audience complained about the plans. A source said they heard one em- ployee shout: "Let it [Air Malta] drown then!" Newspaper post Sex therapist Maria Ali 'Boys will not always be boys' 14-15 YOUR FIRST READ AND FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT maltatoday Union defies Air Malta chairwoman on €1 million cost-cutting plan SUNDAY • 14 JUNE 2015 • ISSUE 814 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY EXCLUSIVE • THE GAFFARENA EXPROPRIATION VALUATIONS HOW ARCHITECTS VALUED VALLETTA OFFICES WHOSE LEASE WAS TO EXPIRE IN 2028 AT €3.29 MILLION FULL DETAILS ON PAGES 8-9 €1.40 CONTINUES PG 3 MIRIAM DALLI, SAVIOUR BALZAN IT was property owner Marco Gaffarena who personally peti- tioned the Government Property Division to have his share of the Valletta palazzo on Old Mint Street expropriated during the summer of 2014. The revelation comes from an exclusive interview with parlia- mentary secretary for planning Michael Falzon, who despite rubber-stamping the controver- sial €1.65 million expropriation deal, is insisting he did nothing irregular. Falzon has admitted receiving Marco Gaffarena at his office at Auberge de Castille, and that he told the property owner that any matters relating to the ex- propriation of his land should be discussed solely with the Govern- ment Property Division. Now under pressure over the compensation deal, Falzon has admitted having gone hunting with Gaffarena in the past, but denied having accepted any po- litical donations from Gaffarena despite his friendship. "Gaffarena came to speak to me on several issues, much like oth- ers like [construction magnates] Nazzareno Vassallo and Charles Polidano do," Falzon said. "I receive people on a daily ba- sis. On this particular case I made it clear to him that the matter should only be discussed with the GPD." Falzon did not rule out that Gaf- farena was allowed by the GPD to personally select the lands he should receive in exchange for the Valletta expropriation. Gaffarena set ball rolling in expropriation saga EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW • MICHAEL FALZON ON CONTROVERSIAL €1.65m EXPROPRIATION Maria Micallef CONTINUES PGS 6-7 PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD