The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association have announced that in the prevailing economic recession they condemn any industrial action from any quarter at a time when all industries are doing their utmost to keep operations running with a minimum loss of jobs.

MHRA said that without going into the merits of the case itself, Air Malta cabin crew’s threat to go on strike is totally unacceptable at a time when the national airline is struggling to survive through the worst tourism recession ever experienced, with unprecedented fuel bills and cut-throat competition on the international market. One would expect that workers in tourism would be looking at ways of increasing their productivity and means of giving more value for money to customers who chose to visit our island, rather than making threats of strike action at this moment in time.

Workers everywhere are losing their jobs, while others are struggling hard to retain theirs. It is therefore a very untimely moment to be making threats of industrial action whether these are based on justified claims or not

The association went on to say that similarly to all other holiday destinations, Malta is suffering badly from a huge drop in visitors and revenue and tourism operators are doing their utmost to attract enough business to at least retain minimum volumes and safeguard the livelihood of many. Any strike action at this moment in time can undermine all the efforts being made by both the private sector and Government and deal a final blow to our national airline with dire consequences to all.

MHRA concluded by saying they categorically oppose this threatened industrial action and suggests to the Air Malta cabin crew to employ some common sense and postpone their claims until better times.

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