The General Workers' Union administration yesterday accused port workers of creating a polemic by writing letters that were then used by the Nationalist media.

Replying to the statement issued by the union to counter the strongly worded 11-point resolution they unanimously adopted on Monday, the port workers said the union administration continued to bury its head in the sand.

The resolution condemned the GWU administration for not allowing them to hold a meeting at its premises in Valletta which meeting was addressed by the workers' legal advisor, George Abela. They also denounced the union's general secretary Tony Zarb, accusing him that in his letter to port workers he attacked both the GWU's section secretary and the port workers' committee. The union administration said yesterday it was surprised to see that the port workers' resolution said nothing about the government's plans to dismantle their working conditions. It said it was not surprised by the resolution "which followed the systematic campaign against the union administration in the Nationalist media".

The union administration said it was prepared to assist port workers who had to keep in mind that the administration was democratically elected to lead the union and no one could expect not to abide by the union's rules.

"It was port workers who created this polemic by writing letters that were later used by the Nationalist media," the union administration said.

"We will not allow anyone to create anarchy and will continue to make decisions according to the mandate given to us by the national council," the administration said.

The port workers replied that the union administration had conveniently ignored the resolution they adopted and instead of accepting the workers' justified demands was continuing to bury its head in the sand.

"By not replying to the 11-point resolution approved by workers, the port workers' committee concludes that the union administration confirms the content of the resolution," the port workers said.