UHM – Voice of the Workers said that it has ordered industrial action at the Gozo General Hospital, Karin Grech, Hospital and St. Luke’s Hospital “after the government failed to keep its word to transfer Steward Healthcare employees to its books by the 1st of January this year.”

As from last Monday, healthcare professionals working in these Steward-run hospitals are not seeing new patients and are not carrying out follow-up visits unless they are urgent cases, the union said.

In 2019, when the UHM said that it won the official recognition of Steward’s workers, it had immediately demanded that they be absorbed by the government.

The union added that, “this is in view of the fact that since they were working side by side with similar professionals who are employed by the government, it was not fair that they would continue to be paid less.”

“Last November, the government undertook to accede to this request after the UHM had to resort to industrial action. The government had agreed to absorb these workers and give them equal pay and conditions with effect from 1st of January 2019,” union said.

It pointed out that “it was also undertaken that the process of transferring the workers should take place by the end of December. However, this did not happen.”

In the second week of January, the UHM said it gave the government another chance to make the necessary changes. “Once again, the government did not keep its word and did not even respond to correspondence sent by the UHM.”

“This resulted in the union to declare an industrial dispute and issue various actions,” it said.

The UHM concluded by saying that it “hopes that the government will listen to these workers and deliver on its promises to treat these professionals who have been at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19 with the dignity they deserve.”

Photo by Anthony Zammit

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