Proposti għall-Baġit 2017 – Vuċi Reali għall-Pulizija

Illum, l-MPA, flimkien u bis-sapport tas-CMTU, preżentat proposti għall-Baġit 2017. L-argument tal-MPA kienu predominati mill-fatt li aktar minn sena w’nofs wara li l-membri tal-Korp tal-Pulizija ingħataw id-dritt li jissieħbu fi trade union, ir-rappreżentanza tagħhom għadha mhiex rikonoxxuta mill-gvern. Dan qed jeskludi lil dan is-settur milli jinnegozja ftehim settorjali xieraq li jindirizza l-aspetti speċifi tal-Pulizija, kif ukoll qed iċaħħad lill-Pulizija minn kundizzjonijiet li jgawdu minnhom ħaddiema oħra fis-servizz pubbliku. Ingħatat vuċi li issa l-gvern hemm bżonn li jisma’. Huwa dritt fundamentali ta’ kull bniedem li jieħu azzjoni kollettiva u jinnegozja b’mod kollettiv. Minnkejja li ġie nkluż dan id-dritt fil-liġi s-sena li għaddiet, fir-realta’, sal-lum, il-Pulizija huma mċaħħdin sostanzjalment minn dawn iż-żewġ aspetti ta’ dan id-dritt.

Il-kontenut tad-dokument preżentat huwa dan li ġej:

Making Our Voice Heard!

After years of consistent and persistent calls on the legislator by the Malta Police Association (MPA) for the recognition of the right of members of disciplined forces to join a trade union of their choice, such calls were only answered last year by an act of parliament (Act IV of 2015).

Notwithstanding the inclusion of such right at law more than one year ago, the right of such members of the Police Force have still not been recognized by the government in practice. This leaves a specific and peculiar sector within the public service without a sectoral agreement being negotiated between the employer and the trade unions representing the employees. For this reason the recognized right on paper has so far yielded very few achievements for this sector, making such right in actual terms ineffective if not superfluous.

In view of this, the MPA calls on the government to convert this abstract right into an actual and tangible one. A voice has been given to the members of the Police Force, but now this voice needs to be heard by the government. Thus, the MPA demands that the representation of the members of the Police Force is recognized and a new sectoral agreement is negotiated between the stakeholders.

In the Sectoral Agreement, inter alia, the following issues need to be addressed:

46 Hours of Work: Members of the Police Force work on a basis of 46 hours a week and are being paid in their scale for only 40 hours. Whilst members of the Police Force are assigned the normal scales in the public service, they are working 6 hours extra a week – 15% extra. The discrepancy existing between other employees within the public service and the Police is to be rectified. A workable solution may be found around a table with all stakeholders present.
Revision of Scales: Currently Police Ranks assigned within public service scales range between scale 14 and scale 2, from probationary constable to commissioner respectively, without any rank falling in scale 6. This leaves room for further revision of scales, especially having regard to the contemporary roles of the Police in today’s society, the specialization of the job, and the educational level following the reform of the Police Academy.
CPD Allowance: In order to promote and encourage the members of the Police Force to pursue further professional development activities, it is being proposed that a Continuous Professional Development Allowance will be given to all members of the Force.
Duty Abroad Allowance: The current PSMC rules on duty abroad do not take into consideration rotating shifts and duties abroad other than conferences and seminars which fall on a public holiday. Rectification in this matter is required.
On Call Allowance: The current provisions in the PSMC regarding the on call allowance (stand-by at home allowance) are not adequately applied for the realities of the police and the exigency of the service.
Overtime Grades Overtime grades in the Police sector need to be aligned with those in the PSMC.

Other Proposals for Budget 2017:

Service Pension

Service pensions are not increased according to the cost of living. Thus, the value of pensions are not adjusted through the course of time with the consequence of having the pension loosing its economic value each and every year. For this reason, it is being proposed the service pension will be increased annually according to the cost of living.

Qualification Allowance

Qualification Allowances for public service employees have not changed over the past decades. It is being proposed that they are revised and updated.

Child Care Center

Currently there are more than 500 officers working within the Police General Headquarters. It is being proposed that a Child Care Center is setup within, either the GHQ building or the vicinity. Police Officers work different hours from other public employees, thus this would provide officers the opportunity to take their children to a Child Care Center that is convenient and continuously accessible. This will encourage police officers, especially women, to return back to work and to increase the number of hours for those on reduced hours.

Compensation for Overtime Worked By Police Officers Between 1993 and 2008

The MPA calls on the government to launch the scheme, including the budgeted amount, individual entitlements and means of application, for the compensation the compensation for overtime worked By Police Officers Between 1993 and 2008.