Malta Shipyards workers will not subscribe to the government's proposed early retirement schemes unless those who choose to retain their job are guaranteed employment, the secretary general of the General Workers' Union, Tony Zarb, said yesterday.
Highlighting points of a resolution approved unanimously by GWU shipyards' delegates, Mr Zarb stressed that the union was not against the privatisation of the shipyards or early retirement schemes. However, it would not accept the government's imposing attitude and insisted that an agreement would only be reached through "serious consultation".
The Ministry of Finance, Economy and Investment described the resolution as "premature" adding that it endangered privatisation and showed that the union was not understanding the risks associated with the failure of the privatisation process.
Referring to guaranteed employment, the government said the people could not be asked to keep bearing the shipyards' financial burden. The government was not in a position to guarantee employment if privatisation did not go through, the ministry said.
Earlier this week, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech presented the GWU, who represented the shipyards workers, with details on proposed early retirement schemes. The union must make its counter proposals by today.
The resolution adopted by the shipyards' delegates says that any early retirement schemes agreed upon ought to be introduced once it was established who would be running the shipyards and when plans for the future were clear.
The resolution also called for guaranteed employment adding that, whenever there was a transfer of business (even when the government was involved) workers should be informed as to who they will be working for.
Mr Zarb told shipyard workers that the government had till today to think about the resolution.
"The government's plan is clear. It wants to divide you so that it will be stronger. But this plan won't succeed," he said as he called for workers to remain united.
As per their resolution, he directed workers not to reach any agreements with the government and to take any documents or forms they received at home to the union's offices. This would ensure the union had a strong position to negotiate from for the benefit of the workers themselves, he said.
Mr Zarb said the government was breaking its pre-election promise because Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had said he had no plans to downsize the shipyards. Now the government was imposing the downsizing without any consultation.
"The union's position is clear. We want serious discussions aimed at reaching an agreement. We will not accept imposition... We are not saying we are against privatisation or early retirement schemes but, if they happen, they must be in the best interest of the worker... The schemes will not be approved before the government guarantees employment as it had done in other cases of privatisation," he said.
secretary of the GWU's shipyards' metal and construction section, Paul Bugeja, said it was "strange and inhumane" that the hard work of shipyards workers, who contributed to the economy, was treated so badly by the government. The government should be providing incentives for them to keep operating and not lay obstacles and demonstrate "hatred".
The current situation at the shipyards was "a national scandal brought about with the government's blessing". He said that the "extra" employees at the shipyard were the foreigners (not the Maltese workers), adding that the chairman ought to be held accountable.
He said the government was going about privatisation the wrong way starting with reducing the number of employees before knowing who was even interested in taking on the operation.
The ministry said it was irresponsible for the union to discuss the schemes when they were still in the process of consultation.
The ministry noted that such schemes were a financial burden and it reminded the union that the government could not go on subsidising the shipyards after December. This meant that if the privatisation did not go through, the workers would not only lose their jobs but also the opportunity to benefit from the schemes.