Aggrieved FTS employees forced to backtrack on their complaint

Government employees working at the Foundation for Tomorrow Schools (FTS) are calling for the launch of an official investigation over claims of “abuse”, “dictatorial management” and “discrimination”.

According to the employees, who spoke to The Shift on condition of anonymity just days after they said they sent a letter to all members of parliament reporting the abuse, claimed that management had called the same employees into a meeting and forced them to sign a counter-declaration disassociating themselves from the original complaints.

The individuals who reported the abuse claim that none of the members of parliament from both sides of the House had reached out to them.

Instead, they state that CEO Neville Young and his assistant Jonathan Brimmer called them into a meeting where they were given an ultimatum to sign a counterclaim disassociating themselves from the original claims.

“The FTS management scheduled a meeting on 15 March and directed all employees to sign a letter denying any association with the communication dated 6 March 6. This letter, requiring signatures by 28 March, was subsequently circulated via email to all recipients of our initial communication addressing the misconduct and discrimination at FTS,” employees told The Shift.

The directive to sign the letter left no room for refusal and was rigorously enforced, the employees added.

“It was evident that failure to comply would result in potential abuse and harassment from the management. This coercive measure served as yet another attempt to conceal the ongoing issues at the Foundation,” the employees insisted.

Neville Young did not reply to The Shift’s questions when asked to confirm whether he had forced employees to sign the counter-letter and to comment on their claims of abuse and dictatorial management style.

According to the employees, they were not even given a copy of the counterclaim they signed. Instead, they were only allowed to sign it in the CEO’s office in the presence of his assistant.

This incident is the latest in a series of events that have been reported to the authorities over at least two years.

The Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools employees point to Neville Young and Jonathan Brimmer, the former spokesman for Labour Minister Helena Dalli and an executive member of the Labour Party.

According to the employee’s letter of complaint, “Since Neville Young was appointed CEO, the working environment at the FTS has become toxic, with the majority of employees demoralised and disgusted with the dictatorial style of management.”

In their letter to the MPs, the staff listed several incidents over the past few weeks, including verbal abuse, intimidation, and manipulation that, if confirmed, would amount to breaches of employment law.

The employees expressed concern that despite the General Workers Union and Education Minister Clifton Grima being aware of the situation, they took no action and supported the management over their interests.

For the past years, the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools has been in total disarray, surrounded by claims of mismanagement and corruption.

This has also affected its performance so much that most of the projects related to building new schools have suffered massive delays and, when completed, cost much more than the original budget.