Thursday, 3rd July 2008 - 16:08CET
GWU reacts to dockyard debate in the House
The GWU said today that it would continue to hold talks with the government in the interests of the workers, but it denied having ever been informed of any plans to privatise Malta Shipyards.
Reacting to comments made in Parliament yesterday, the union said the government decision to privatise the dockyard was unilateral and the fact that it was taken quickly led people to wonder how genuine the government was in its action.
The union said that meetings which the Prime Minister had mentioned in his statement in the House had discussed everyday matters and not privatisation.
The GWU said it still felt that privatisation was not the only option for the shipyard. It also insisted that hiving off Boiler Wharf and the Tank Cleaning Farm from the shipyard would seriously undermine its capacity.
In continuing its talks with the government, the union said it would insist that there was no imposition and that workers were kept informed of development.
RSS
Comments
Mr.Abela, the whole world is looking for alternative means of energy generation, if the shipyards developed such a mechanism, why was it not advertised to all and sundry? Why didn't the union use it as a weapon to enhance the Yard's chances of survival?
It would seem to me that such an important mechanism would have had several suitors who would be willing to pay billions for the patent. Why wasn't it pushed to the hilt?
Or was it not viable?
Does this mean only the administration is going to change??
The privatised shipyards are then expected to make profit??
So it isn't the workers that are making the shipyards inefficient after all???
So it must be the administration.
Mr Abela do you really believe what you wrote in the whole of your second paragraph of your comment. ?? If you do can you explain to all of us how a year after year a money loosing entity can help the economy to grow ? The ecomy grows when the private sector creates well paid jobs and make profits which are then re-invested and create more jobs which more jobs mean more income for the govt. from taxes and VAT
I agree with the government that no more money should be put into this endless pit!!
Having said that, one must note that the Dockyards were a source of foreign currency which was quite important when we still had the Lira. A heavy industry is likely to help the rest of the economy to grow. For instance, a prototype of a mechanism which produces energy using alternative energy has been manufactured at the shipyards. Thus, the shipyards can be an essential part in R&D.
If the shipyards have no potential, how is it that 5 companies already showed interest in buying over this industry? It is a known fact that the NP never wanted the shipyards to recover.....It is also a known fact that for the last years there was a campaign to demonise shipyard workers and depict them as lazy bums.
You are completely wrong on this one. the people that you mention are with the government this time. they are fed up of forking money to the dockyard.EUR 1 billion have been poured down the drain. This wasted money could have been used on health, R&D, education and our roads.
I still feel that it is a half baked solution, since the drydocks should be closed down completley. Tourism industry brings in much more money, which is spread out to various sectors of society and not the selected few. No wonder KMP called these people"the aristocracy". With all that money being taken away from our taxes.
After sucking off EUR 1 billion, the GWU has not lost any appetite. They want to keep the status quo and continue to fill up their bellies.