Court orders 3 government agencies to pay employee €115,000 in wages due

Three government organisations, led by three political appointees on the government’s gravy train for the past decade, were condemned to pay Jason Masini, a former MCAST lecturer, more than €115,000 in unpaid wages.

Lambasting three political appointees—Albert Marshall, Jason Micallef, and Phyllis Muscat—the court said it was unheard of that instead of paying a worker his dues for the time spent working, the three chairpersons pointed a finger at each other without finding a solution.

The court ordered the three government agencies, all of which fall under Minister Owen Bonnici’s political remit, to pay the worker all his dues, amounting to €114,827, plus interest of 8% for the past eight years.

Masini’s story dates back to 2014, just a few months after Labour was returned to power.

The court heard how, at the end of 2013, through the undocumented orders of Arts Council Chairman Albert Marshall,  MCAST lecturer Jason Masini was tasked with managing Pjazza Teatru Rjal, the open-air theatre next to parliament.

Masini spent many months managing the theatre alone, following Marshall’s instructions. However, he was never paid, as no contract had been arranged.

In 2015, Marshall told Masini to start working with MICAS Chair Phyllis Muscat. Muscat was tasked with organising the CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting), which was held in Malta later that year.

Masini had a desk at Muscat’s offices and helped with the organisation. But Muscat told the court that he did not work at her office.

Once again, after CHOGM, Albert Marshall directed Masini to start working at the Valletta 2018 Foundation, led by Labour stalwart Jason Micallef. The Foundation was tasked with organising the activities connected with Valletta’s European Capital of Culture title in 2018.

Masini was at the agency until 2017. He still didn’t receive his wages despite Marshall’s promises that his papers were being prepared.

Jason Micallef told the court that Masini did not work at his agency and was not on ‘his’ payroll. He said Masini was Marshall’s responsibility.

This left Masini without wages between January 2014 and September 2017, when he started legal proceedings against the government.

In its decision, confirmed on appeal, the court described the three political appointees as “more interested in passing the buck than resolving the bureaucratic issue.”

It condemned the Arts Council to pay Masini €44,792, the Public Service Head for CHOGM €2,516, and the Valletta 2018 Foundation (now Valletta Cultural Agency) more than €65,000.

Research conducted by The Shift shows that while Masini continued working without a salary, in the summer of 2015, he was charged in court with misappropriating funds due to the Arts Council from the sale of tickets at Pjazza Teatru Rjal.

In separate proceedings, the court found Masini guilty but gave him a suspended sentence. It said Masini took those actions because he was not paid for his work and paid another employee who was also not getting paid by the government. Still, the court said that Masini’s actions were not justified even though he had refunded the money.