Editorial

Making shipyard workers realise that the enterprise is no longer owned and run by the Admiralty was for many years one of the hardest problems, if not the hardest, that anyone connected with making it financially viable had had to face. Not even former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff at the height of his popularity was able to get the message across clearly enough.

Years of physical dependence on the Admiralty had translated itself into a psychological one when the enterprise passed into the hands of managing agents and, later, directly into the hands of the Maltese. Even though so many years have passed now since then, there still seems to be a residue of that psychological dependence effect among some of the workers. It is also difficult to rule out completely any political motives that some might still have today.

One would have thought that after all the work that has gone into the effort to make the 'yard viable, from the time of Mr Mintoff up to the present, the past would have been completely forgotten by all who work there, particularly after the signing of the last collective agreement. Last week's industrial action at the 'yard brought back memories of the past and a realisation that there is still some ground to cover before making all the workers realise that the enterprise has to be turned into a commercial concern in the true sense of the word.

According to the Prime Minister, there are some 10 per cent of the workers at the 'yard who were driven by their own "questionable agenda" and were determined to cause disruption at the shipyards. He has urged the rest of the workforce to stop these workers from dragging the shipyards down before it is too late.

What is this questionable agenda? Have we not had enough agendas, mainly political, at the 'yard already?

The government is right in insisting on the need on the part of all at the 'yards to shoulder their responsibility and to realise once and for all that the 'yards' destiny is in their hands. It does look as if the government is quite determined this time to stick to its stand and has in fact warned the workforce more than once that the shipyards could face bankruptcy if they did not meet the targets set.

On this point, the government is likely to get the taxpayers' support for most people in Malta today feel the country has subsidised the 'yards long enough. True, the shipyards have cut their losses but at Lm9 million the loss for last year is not a mean sum either. The government would like to see the enterprise bring the figure down to Lm7 million this year - again, still a high figure.

For the shipyards to survive in today's highly competitive world of shiprepair they would have to face the harsh realities of the market. The only agenda that makes sense is that of ensuring they are able to compete with other 'yards for any of the work available on the market. Making the job more difficult than it already is through rash industrial action would be like scoring an own goal.

The 'yards have up to Lm5 million worth of orders on their book at present, not an insignificant figure. With greater effort and efficiency all round, they can well turn a loss-making enterprise into a profitable one. It is not an easy task but it can be done, provided no "questionable agendas" disrupt the way forward.