'Progress' in 'yards talks

The General Workers' Union and Ministry for Investments yesterday reported progress in talks over the shipyards.

The union said all pending issues over which there were diverging interpretations of the collective agreement had been discussed.

"Substantial progress" was registered and all the parties involved were satisfied with the outcome, the union said.

A spokesman for the ministry told The Times that "some progress" had been made in yesterday's discussions with the GWU.

The GWU's general secretary, Tony Zarb, and his deputy, Emmanuel Micallef, led the GWU delegation while Malta Shipyards was represented by chairman John Cassar White.

The shipyards were in the limelight late last month when the GWU's metal and construction section issued a work-to-rule directive over arrears it said were due to some workers and urged workers not to cooperate with sub-contracted individuals.

There followed a government warning that it would "probably" have no choice but to declare Malta Shipyards Ltd bankrupt after the action paralysed the 'yards and ship owners started to seek compensation.