The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, in a press conference this morning has announced that if an agreement has not been reached by this Wednesday on the subject of meal allowances, then industrial directives will be issued for its members at the Gozo General Hospital, St. Luke’s Hospital and Karen Grech Rehabilitation Hospital.

Speaking outside the Gozo General Hospital, the MUMN said there was a lack of agreement between Steward Health Care and the Health Department to initiate the concept of meal allowances for MUMN members working in these three hospitals, and that they should be on an equal footing to those at Mater Dei, who benefit from this allowance.

He said that MUMN had tried to organise a meeting where all stake holders will be around a table to finalise the new rates of the meal allowance so that all Government Healthcare workers will be the be treated as equal.

“Although both Steward Health Care and the Health Division have no objection that the staff of the three mention hospitals are to receive such meal allowance to replace the meals provided, MUMN and its members were never given any information as to when such meal allowances are to commence,” the union said.

MUMN said that it “cannot accept that on issues where Steward Health Care are involved, its members are being treated as second class workers and a request for a meeting to find a solution was not accepted.”

These Directives will start from Wednesday, the 26th of August so to give the Health Department and Steward Health Care to call a meeting to find solutions.

Photo by Anthony Zammit

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