Port workers protest against draft cargo handling directive

Port workers yesterday stopped for an hour to protest against a proposed European Commission directive that would allow cargo to be un/loaded by the vessels' crew.

If it goes through, the directive would also give foreign companies operating regularly to Malta the possibility to post its own workers here. "This would only be detrimental to Maltese port workers who carry out such jobs," the secretary of the General Workers' Union's maritime and aviation section, Emanuel Zammit, said.

The stoppage took place between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Explaining the GWU's position against this directive, Mr Zammit said the Maltese government should immediately take a stand on the matter, especially since it would affect about 900 Maltese workers.

He said the directive affected licensed port workers and foremen, employees of Cargo Handling and Tug Malta and berthing crews.

Mr Zammit said he had written to Labour MEP Joseph Muscat and Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil asking for a meeting on the matter.

"We will be asking them to vote against the directive and to lobby for a no vote within their respective parties, the Party of European Socialists and the European People's Party. All five Maltese MEPs should toe this line not just in the interest of workers but also in the interest of Malta," Mr Zammit said.

The European Parliament, which is expected to vote on the new directive in the coming weeks, had rejected the directive two years ago.

Speaking of the effects of globalisation on Malta and how the pressures of the free market were encroaching on workers' rights, Mr Zammit said the government should understand that workers' rights and jobs could not be sacrificed in the name of commercial interests. "If the government loses control over Malta's airport and ports it would mean it would have lost control over what is imported to Malta," Mr Zammit said.