Government refuses to disclose KM Malta pilots and cabin crew contracts

The contracts KM Malta Airways signed with pilots and cabin crew are to stay a secret as the federal government has refused a Freedom of Data request for transparency.

The reply refusing to reveal the data referred to “business pursuits” and “information safety”. The federal government went additional, saying the wage standards will not be thought of to fall beneath the definition of ’a doc’ as offered in Article 2 of Cap. 496.

The Shift has been contesting Freedom of Data denials that led to courtroom judgements saying the federal government’s definition of “a doc” didn’t apply.

The federal government has utterly ignored the courtroom’s rulings, and completely different ministries have saved giving the identical reply. And this was after the ministry requested for an extension to supply solutions to questions.

The Shift requested for all KM Malta Airways and authorities contracts with pilots and cabin crew working for KM Malta Airways, together with however not restricted to employment contracts.

The Shift additionally requested for the disclosure of the wage standards for KM Malta Airways staff.

In the meantime, KM Malta Airways, wholly owned by the federal government, has not recognised any unions that used to symbolize Air Malta staff, and no collective settlement exists.

The Shift reported that Air Malta pilots and crew moved to the ‘new’ airline on the situation that they signed authorized waivers prohibiting them from looking for authorized motion to say their rights.

The waivers had been signed alongside new employment contracts with KM Malta, introducing completely different working situations to these at Air Malta.

The transfer has been shrouded in a wall of silence from all involved, as questions have been raised concerning the new airline’s operations.

Pilots and cabin crew who labored with the now-shuttered airline may apply for work on the new airline beneath completely different situations, as contracts wouldn’t be routinely transferred.

These agreements would require them to surrender current authorized instances, settle for settlement affords, and signal authorized waivers, stopping them from suing the previous and new airline.

A secret facet settlement signed by the pilots in 2018 was a sticking level within the case. The settlement granted the pilots ‘job ensures’ by the federal government beneath the identical situations they loved on the time.

Numerous Air Malta pilots dropped out of an ongoing courtroom case in opposition to Prime Minister Robert Abela days forward of the airline’s closing flight, indicating out-of-court settlements have been reached.

It means extra taxpayer cash was dished out to implement a secret settlement reached with former minister Konrad Mizzi and Robert Abela, who acted as the federal government’s lawyer on the time.