“Umane, where is the human element in your management?”, we could read this Thursday morning in front of the head office of the former Adapei Var Méditerranée, in Valletta. In the Valgora activity zone, more than a hundred employees of the Umane association mobilized, placards and megaphones in hand, to express their fed up with “unworthy working conditions” and at “management denial”.
In total, more than 1,000 professionals – mainly concentrated in the Var – are today employed by the non-profit association, with the mission of supporting people with disabilities throughout their lives. “Currently, we no longer do our work as we would like to do it”enrages Pauline, specialized educator.
“There, I’m borderline burn-outcontinues Jacques, caregiver in a specialized reception center. Last night, while talking to a friend about work, I had tears in my eyes. We did the day in threes for twelve or thirteen residents, knowing that there are some where it should be one for one.”
“Always more with less”
Employed since 2012, he assures that working conditions have deteriorated: “They always ask us for more with less. This is no longer possible.” According to Emilia Blanco, Force Ouvrière union delegate, “there is a denial of what is really happening on the ground, where we welcome very seriously disabled people and where there is sometimes a lot of violence”.
For the FO and CGT unions, at the initiative of the demonstration, it was the recent drastic reduction in the presenteeism bonus (of which they were not, however, signatories) which was the last straw. “We warned employees that there would be a reduction in the bonus of more than 75% overnight. For some, it still rose to 1,000 euros”underlines Michel Audibert, CGT union delegate.
And to continue: “We would like a more attractive recruitment policy and salary policy to be put in place, with lasting bonuses such as a thirteenth month. But it also depends on the public authorities.”
Soon an agreement?
After receiving a delegation following the mobilization, the director general Alexandre Muller for his part declared that he had “awareness that salaries are insufficient and that support needs are increasingly complex”. However, “the measures requested relate to public funding, over which we clearly have no control.”
“When we have budgets that are tightening as was the case in 2024he added, we are forced to adjust the incentives that we have had for years.”
During the meeting, management nevertheless proposed to staff representatives the establishment of a profit-sharing agreement from 2026 as well as a possible measure for the transitional period.
