Government rules out shipyards task force proposal

The government this afternoon ruled out the GWU proposal for the creation of a task force to discuss the future of the shipyards.

“The government agrees that there is a need for a structured dialogue with the GWU on the best schemes for voluntary retirement. The government, however, does not feel that there is any more time left for new forms of debate on whether there are alternatives to privatisation.

“This country has been experimenting with various alternatives for a long time, and these have only led to an accumulated financial burden to taxpayers of more than £770 million,” the government said in a statement this afternoon.

It added that the role of the government was to be a regulator, and not an operator in the Maltese economy. Therefore, privatisation was good for the shipyard and the country, even had the shipyard been making a profit. Recent economic history showed that privatisation had been beneficial for economic and social development and for the workers concerned.

The privatisation of the shipyard was a national challenge which should be conducted in a manner which was best for the country, the workers and their families, the government added.

It said there were two important aspects to the privatisation process.

The first was the adjudication of bidders, which would be handled by the technical experts within the Privatisation Unit of the Ministry of Finance.

The second aspect was the interests of the workers. Various studies on manpower levels and productivity showed that the viability of the shipyard depended on the size of the workforce, which clearly needed to be smaller. The government would therefore be offering early retirement schemes, which were seen as essential for the success of privatisation.

The government said it wished to discuss these voluntary retirement scheme and related matters and was therefore reiterating its invitation to the GWU for talks on June 27.