A new collective agreement has been signed that will offer better working conditions to workers at the Occupational Health and Safety Authority, OHSA. It was the Minister for Public Works and Planning Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi who presided over the signing of a new collective agreement between the OHSA, and the United Workers Union, the UħM – Voice of the Workers, the representative of workers.
This agreement will be covering technical and administrative workers and will be the fifth agreement covering this section since the Authority was established. Minister Zrinzo Azzopardi said how this agreement is the best one in recent years.
“This will continue to build on the previous agreement with the aim of strengthening the Authority and recognizing the work done by it in the sector,” stated the Minister. He said that the agreement will lead to an improvement in the salary structure, new benefits, an increase in overtime rates and better working conditions.
Minister Zrinzo Azzopardi thanked the officers within the Industrial Relations Section within the People and Standards Division and all those who during the past months were part of the negotiations for this agreement. He added that the Authority for Health and Safety at the Workplace has worked to increase training in the sector in educational institutions that offer specialized subjects in the health and safety sector on the -workplace.
The CEO of OHSA Dr. Mark Gauci said that OHSA has always had dedicated and professional employees, and this collective agreement will be pushing forward more work within the Authority. He explained how the collective agreement is not only recognizing the dedication, commitment and professionalism of these employees by translating into improvements in employment conditions, but is intended to attract more new workers to work with the OHSA.
The UħM – Voice of the Workers expressed satisfaction that after months of negotiations it reached this agreement, which covers until 2026 and which will lead to an adjustment and improvement in the wages and allowances of -workers. The UħM said that even though the agreement was made today, there was an agreement on payment of arrears as of January 1, 2022. In addition, the UħM stressed that this collective agreement for the first time is offering career development opportunity for clerical workers.
Present for the signing of this agreement was the Permanent Secretary within the Office of the Prime Minister (People & Standards) Dr. Joyce Cassar, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry for Public Works and Planning Carlos Tabone, as well as Antoinette Aquilina and Mario Sacco on behalf of the United Workers Union.
