GWU complains of 'take it or leave it' attitude in dockyard talks

The GWU said today in a strongly worded statement on the shipyards privatisation that in everything it was trying to achieve, the government was continuing to threaten the livelihood of the workers, despite having promised, before the election, that jobs would not be cut.

"No serious trade union can agree to talks held in an atmosphere of threats where it either accepts what is offered, or the entity will be closed," the union said.

It said that Finance Minister Tonio Fenech on Monday did not stick to what was agreed when he held a press conference on the talks "which are supposed to be still in progress".

"This confirms what the GWU has been saying, that the government does not really want to hold discussion, but wants to impose."

It insisted that the government could not shirk its own responsibilities, because it had failed to set up the structure agreed in the dockyard reform agreement of 2003.

The dockyard had lost millions because of the decisions of the executive management which the government itself had appointed, the union said. Indeed, the government was still refusing to hold a public, independent inquiry into the loss of €46 million on just one ship conversion contract.

The union said the government did not have genuine aims in the privatisation of Malta Shipyards but simply wanted to sell the company without workers, so that the new owners could employ whoever they wanted on inferior conditions.

"How can the workers decide their future when they do now know who will buy the dockyard. How can the government decide how many workers the new owners will need, and in what trades".

The union said that unless the government already knew who would take over the dockyard, it should hold real discussions with it and not try to impose.