Over 500 former port workers and their heirs yesterday filed a constitutional application claiming they were discriminated against as they were not being granted gratuities.

The application was filed against the Prime Minister, the Minister for Competitiveness and Communication and the Malta Maritime Authority.

The workers and the heirs said they had all retired from work in the harbour between 1973 and 2003.

In 1990, a committee promoting the port workers' interests had asked the government to distribute a one-time only gratuity of Lm500 to each worker from the port workers' Pension and Contingency Fund. The money was paid to all port workers who had retired in 1990 or before that date.

In 1997, the committee had again asked the government to distribute a gratuity of Lm250 to each port worker who had retired in that year or previously.

The port workers who filed the court application claimed that each time a gratuity was paid, this was distributed to all the workers with retroactive effect in such a manner that all port workers who had retired on earlier dates, but not before 1973, received payment. In 2003, the government had decided to distribute a gratuity of Lm500 limited to those port workers who had retired on March 1, 2003, and who had worked prior to that date. The gratuity was not distributed to port workers who had retired prior to that date. As a result, the 2003 gratuity was not paid with retroactive effect to port workers who had retired prior to that date.

Apart from this, on March 1, 2003, an Lm8,000 capping had been removed and whoever retired from that day forth could benefit from a limitless gratuity. This led to an injustice and was discriminatory as port workers who had contributed most to the Pension and Contingency Fund had received lower payments than other workers who had made fewer contributions.

The committee had presented the port workers' complaint to the authorities but no compensation was forthcoming.

The port workers and their heirs filed the constitutional application to safeguard their right to the enjoyment of their property, a right that was being breached, they said.

Lawyer Gavin Gulia signed the application.