Hunger strike
Eighty Turkish workers who had been working on the Fortina project in Sliema have gone on hunger strike, telling
The Malta Independent that they have not been paid for months.
The workers gathered near the seaside yesterday afternoon and held up placards protesting their withheld pay.
The workers are employed by TACA Construction.
Some of the workers told this newsroom that they have been working on the project for eight months. Some of them said they have not been paid for five months, while others said it was less in their case.
They stopped working 20 days ago and decided to escalate things on Monday and go on hunger strike.
The workers also told this newsroom that they had been threatened by government officials that they would be taken back to Turkey. “We will not go back until we are paid in full for our work,” one worker said. Officials from the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations (DIER) had taken their names, another worker said. “Why is the Maltese government not doing anything to help us?”
They also accused the company of lying to them. “They told us that if we work we will get paid tomorrow, but we do not believe them,” another worker said.
Fortina and TACA are in disagreement over the workers’ salaries, with the Maltese company saying it had paid the Turkish firm all its dues. TACA has denied this, saying that payments are handled by a sub-contractor.
TACA told Times of Malta that it was unaware that any of its workers were on hunger strike, saying “everybody has eaten their meal as planned”.
Asked about claims of repatriation, the company said there is no confirmed flight yet.
It said it is taking care of its workers and they will get paid as per their contract, “even if the sub-contractor didn’t pay them fully.”