A new collective agreement has been signed for the workers of the Department of Civil Protection. “This is the first agreement for this Department,” said Interior, National Security and Law Enforcement Minister Byron Camilleri.
The signed agreement will benefit around 252 workers and through it each firefighter will receive at least an increase of one thousand euros in his basic income. The agreement also ensures that each worker will see an increase in their scale, so this measure will have a positive impact on workers ’pensions when they retire from service.
Minister Camilleri explained how this agreement is a new right for workers of this department to follow others which have been given by this administration including the twenty-five years of service and the chance for workers to join a union of their choice. “Because the workers of the Department of Civil Protection do not only deserve congratulations and thanks when they come into the fire for us. What we are giving today, together with the great investment in the tools that the workers work with, will continue to lead to the people we have here coming to work more to their heart ”, said the minister.
As a result of this agreement, the workers will enjoy more time with the family as the workers will start working 40 hours instead of 46 hours a week. As a result, overtime will start to count after 40 hours, while the overtime pay rate will improve considerably. The agreement also provides for force workers to take a class allowance. The additions of Chief Assistance & Rescue Officer and Station Officer not only include an improvement in scale but also a fairer disturbance allowance for all officers. This is so that whoever has the responsibility while carrying it will also be compensated for it. Therefore, the concept of a performance bonus for the highest force officers will be introduced.
In addition to the collective agreement, a measure will also be implemented where the tax payable on extra duty will start to be 15%. This measure will be removing an anomaly that existed with other disciplined forces that also do extra duty (which is different from overtime).
