UHM chief laments port reform delay

The fact that the port reform has not yet been concluded is a sign that there is either "a high level of arrogance or crass incompetence", Union Haddiema Maghqudin secretary general Gejtu Vella told The Times.

Mr Vella said the UHM has been involved in the talks since last summer, after port workers' foremen left the General Workers' Union and joined the UHM.

"Since that time, we had three meetings with the negotiating team and these have led us nowhere. We also had three meetings with Minister Censu Galea.

"I regret to say that the Malta Maritime Authority negotiating team has not given us any details about how they see port reform evolving. To me it seems as if they are fishing haphazardly, seeing what they can catch. This is not the way to conduct proper negotiations," Mr Vella said.

Contacted for a reaction, MMA chairman Marc Bonello said he worked shoulder to shoulder with Mr Vella, who also represented MMA employees, but disagreed with his opinion.

"Of course, he has a right to his opinion. There are many stakeholders in the ports and we started discussing with each sector; with port workers, mooring men, pilots and foremen. We listed problems and took minutes of salient points.

"When discussions mature, there will be a position paper for all sides to see where we agree or disagree and how we can narrow things down.

Essentially we listed what they wanted and what the government wants. But I'm afraid that newspapers are not the forum for these issues. Discussions are still going on and the port reform is an overall reform," Dr Bonello said. Mr Vella said no one should expect the UHM to agree on the port reform "at the 11th hour".

"We will not accept being presented with a cake when it's already baked. We have to have a hand in mixing its ingredients," Mr Vella said. One of the things that is still unclear is whether the reform affects just Grand Harbour or all the ports, including the Freeport.

"We can't agree on the concept of having any port out of bounds for port workers' foremen. Their licence allows them to work in any local port. The Freeport bought the Freeport operations, not the port and our foremen have a right to work there too," Mr Vella insisted. He said port workers' foremen were service providers, not Freeport employees, and the Freeport could not exclude them.

"The government has to be clear about this point as the law does not bar them from working there, neither does it give anyone the exclusive right to work there," he said. Dr Bonello said the port reform had to be all embracing as each sector had an impact on costs.

"One of the port reform objectives is to cut costs to make ports more competitive. To do this we have to remove obsolete tariffs that refer to services and labour practices that do not exist. Both service providers and terminal operators have rights and obligations.

The Freeport is also part of the discussion and so are the nine port workers' foremen who work there and who are not part of the UHM. There are ties between the Freeport and a contractor and talks aim to find a solution to this issue too. We want a true reform, not lip service. We want operators and all port workers to have peace of mind.

"I do not agree with Mr Vella's arguments about the port reform and I hope he will tell me what is bothering him at the next round of talks set to start soon rather than speaking publicly at this stage," Dr Bonello said.