President Lynn Luciani described the situation of customs officers as "unacceptable", and called for clarity as soon as possible.
Similarly to the police, the trade union's president is worried about the new legislation on regulating working hours, which includes time-savings accounts.
The legislation does not allow officials to work more than ten hours a day (eight plus two hours), but the reality of the matter is that customs officers regularly exceed this limit.
Sometimes, customs officers have to work 24 hours in one day, which becomes illegal under the new legislation. The issue outlined by Luciani is that once employees exceed the limit of allowed working hours, they are no longer covered by insurance.
The work of customs officers has completely changed since 1995 and the introduction of the Schengen area, which removed hard borders within the area. The union deplored that, whilst customs officers have received a number of tasks since this fundamental change, many have lost a sense of responsibility and consequently decided to reevaluate their careers.
For these reasons, the syndicate is seeking to engage in a dialogue with the head of the Customs and Excise Agency, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Finance, Pierre Gramegna.
