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Industrial dispute flares up at AquaGib

The Civil Contingencies Committee pictured on Friday following industrial action at AquaGib.

Operations at Gibraltar’s reverse osmosis plants were temporarily halted on Friday as AquaGib workers commenced strike action in a pay dispute that the company described as “wholly unreasonable”, but which Unite the Union said was both lawful and legitimate.

The industrial action was called off hours later ahead of a meeting was arranged next week between the union and AquaGib, which was recently taken into public ownership.

But amid concerns about the impact on the provision of potable water, the Gibraltar Government made clear it would use legal powers if needed to ensure supply was not disrupted.

The row drew a political response too from the Opposition, which highlighted an urgent need for information on the resilience of this essential service and accused the Government of shirking accountability in respect of industrial disputes in Government-owned companies.

The strike action stemmed from an ongoing dispute over allowances at AquaGib.

Stuart Davies, Unite the Union’s national officer for Gibraltar, told the Chronicle there had been a lack of progress in the dispute and that workers were left with no other option but to strike.

Unite said members across AquaGib were presented with a proposal for a company-wide review in late 2023 which the union was engaged in, including members working within Reverse Osmosis Department [RO]. The union had provided a response in respect of key red lines as part of that review.

But Unite said the review had “fizzled out”, leading to a claim being issued to AquaGib management in March 2024 in respect of RO staff. That claim was rejected by the employer in October 2024, the union said.

A dispute resolution procedure was commenced, including a full-day conciliation session with the management and an independent conciliator on December, but according to Unite “negligible progress was made”.

Unite said both AquaGib and the Gibraltar Government were advised last December 12 and 13 that the dispute was heading to strike action.

Following an “unsuccessful meeting” on Thursday this week with the minister responsible for AquaGib, Gemma Arias Vasquez, industrial action was formally notified in writing to the employer and commenced on Friday morning.

Mr Davies stressed Friday’s industrial action was lawful and that the employer’s approach to engagement had been “dismissive at best”, adding the union had exhausted the dispute resolution on a claim issued 10 months ago.

“AquaGib and the Gibraltar Government have been aware for six weeks that this dispute was heading to strike action and then act surprised when action is called,” he said.

“AquaGib’s approach to industrial relations is broken, which is reflected in the employer’s threats to consider disciplinary action against the workers for participating in lawful industrial action.”

“Our members will be vigorously defended in the face of any threat of disciplinary action, a threat that simply has the potential to escalate this dispute and represents a sad day for industrial relations in Gibraltar.”

After the workers took action on Friday, an emergency Cabinet meeting was convened by the Government to discuss contingency measures.

The Government said it was ready to act with an Emergency Direction under the Civil Contingencies Act if need be to ensure the continued supply of water production.

Later in the afternoon, the Chief Minister chaired a Civil Contingencies Committee meeting to assess the impact of Friday’s outage and to mitigate against any further “unreasonable industrial action” next week which might once again threaten production or supply of water.

“Securing our water supply to our people is essential,” Mr Picardo said.

“The Government will not accept action that leaves our citizens at risk of losing access to reliable supplies of water, whatever the reasons behind that.”

“This is a key issue and it engages the Government’s powers under the Civil Contingencies Act and we will not fail to act to protect our people in these circumstances.”

“We defend the right to strike, to protest and to withhold labour but we will not tolerate that right being abused in a manner that deprives our people of water.”

“Our first duty is to protect our people and we will ensure that we do so, whatever the circumstances.”

But Unite said the potential impact on water supplies had been factored into the action.

“The convening of the Civil Contingency Committee today to consider whether to intervene in the strike action raises a real threat to the right to strike,” Mr Davies said.

“In calling the action, the potential impact on Gibraltar in terms of available water supplies and third-party contingency measures that are available to ensure the continued supply of potable to the whole of Gibraltar were all fully considered.”

“Whilst we welcome the statement from [the Gibraltar Government] that it respects and defends the right to strike, this is a dangerous development to the fundamental right to withdraw labour in pursuit of a trade dispute.”

“Where will this end in terms of which workers are permitted to strike by the Civil Contingency Committee?”

COMPANY RESPONDS

In a statement issued through the Government’s press office, AquaGib management strongly rejected the claims made by Unite regarding what the company described as the “alleged grievances” of the RO staff.

“These claims, which have led to Unite the Union backing industrial action, are wholly unreasonable,” the company said.

“AquaGib deeply regrets the decision taken by Unite and staff at the RO department [on Friday] morning to power down the RO plant.”

AquaGib said the action meant water production in Gibraltar was halted from 8am on Friday morning until 2.45pm.

“AquaGib has agreed to meet with the RO staff members on Monday morning but will, under no circumstances, agree to their unreasonable and unjustified pay claim of 27%,” the company said in a statement.

According to AquaGib, the RO staff members in dispute are seeking allowances including 10% for high chemical exposure, 5% for working on slopes, 5% for operating in tunnels and dangerous areas, and 7% for extreme pressure exposure.

In addition, they are calling for an allowance granted to three of their eight colleagues in August 2023 to be made pensionable, the company said.

“These demands fail to acknowledge that the tasks for which they are seeking additional allowances are already a part of their job descriptions and are fully accounted for in their current remuneration.,” AquaGib added.

AquaGib said it was in the process of undertaking a company-wide review of staffing levels, pay levels and allowances.

It said staff had been encouraged to await the outcome of this independent process.

“Therefore, AquaGib believes that the decision to initiate industrial action at this stage is as premature as it is unreasonable and unjustifiable,” it added.

“AquaGib cannot and will not accept demands that are excessive, unreasonable, and completely unsustainable.”

“AquaGib employees, including those in the RO department, already enjoy exceptionally competitive salaries and benefits packages, and further increasing their remuneration by 27% is neither necessary nor affordable.”

AquaGib urged Unite and the affected employees to reconsider their stance and engage constructively with the ongoing review process.

“Industrial action is not in the best interests of the company, its employees, or the wider community of Gibraltar,” it said.

POLITICAL REACTION

For its part, the GSD said Friday’s industrial action at AquaGib was “...simply a symptom of a list of ongoing disputes between staff and management, supported by Government, at this Government-owned utility company.”

Highlighting the importance of essential services such as water supply, the Opposition voiced concern too that it should be allowed to function effectively in holding the Government to account in Parliament, especially for the actions of Government-owned companies tasked with running vital utilities.

On Friday in Parliament following the emergency Cabinet meeting, Ms Arias Vasquez had been asked a question by GSD MP Craig Sacarello on industrial strife at AquaGib and was told by the minister that the Government would not comment on industrial relations matters at any publicly-owned companies, whose managers dealt with these issues.

“This refusal to be subjected to public scrutiny is not surprising in itself for this Government, but the fact that this stance is maintained for matters where not only public interest is high but where Public Health can be seriously impacted is remarkable,” the GSD said.

“The Government’s line to flatly refuse to be held accountable on matters of broad public interest is indicative of their low regard for Parliament and the wider public concern,” Mr Sacarello added.

“The public deserves to know what the implications and the state of the dispute are.”

“It is not sufficient to simply use the threat of every legal action at its disposal; that is not the only path in its gift to take.”

“The stakes both in terms of Public Health and the Government’s political accountability are very high. The public deserves answers.”

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