UPDATED: Ministry slams suggestion for dockyard workers to join IPSL
(Adds Labour Party statement)
The Finance Ministry said this afternoon that Labour leader Joseph Muscat’s call for dockyard workers to be given the option to transfer to IPSL Ltd – a government owned company – contradicted what the Labour Party had said in 2003, when the workers were given such an option.
At the time, the ministry said, the MLP had argued that valuable skills were being lost because workers were moving to IPSL where their trades were not being utilised in a productive manner. Now Dr Muscat was calling IPSL a success story.
While Dr Muscat was accusing the government of throwing money at the shipyards problem, instead of solving it, what he was proposing would amount to throwing money at the problem indefinitely. Dr Muscat’s proposal would cost the government €40 million a year, compared to the maximum one-time cost of €49 million for the early retirement schemes.
Furthermore, the government’s aim was not for the workers to retire and stay at home, but to find other productive jobs.
The ministry further pointed out that the schemes had to be offered now, because in terms of EU directives on transfer of business, once the new operator was identified, the new operator would absorb the workers at current conditions.
The ministry said no talks were currently being held with potential investors. The three companies indicated by the Labour leader had shown an interest last year and concluded that they could not continue the process because of the number of workers at Malta Shipyards.
The ministry welcomed the fact that Dr Muscat said he was in favour of privatisation, saying this was a victory for the Maltese people.
The Labour Party in a reaction to the ministry statement, said it would not get involved in political issues with the government on the shipyards.
“The interest of the MLP is the national interest and the interest of the workers, and we want a mature discussion,” the party said.
It also insisted that the government should account for the €100 million reportedly lost in the two Fairmount contracts.
The party also asked why the government was against transferring the workers to IPSL when it was so much in favour in the past.
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J. Marsall
Aug 11th 2008, 15:53
@Godfrey Borg
You may be reading this or not but i will not let you play the victim when everyone knows who the victimiser was. As for acting in a civilised manner when have you started acting in this manner if I wanted to be uncivilian I would have used a better story about you but I do care about familys not as what you told me about mine 2 weeks before i was made redundant from the docks I wil never forget that.
You were one who was in favour of the 2003 agreement ask all the shopstewards at the time you were also very close to the top management of the time fortunately for everyone it seems you are not anymore. I am sorry for all my former colleagues but for one.
Godfrey Borg
Aug 9th 2008, 09:26
@J Marshall
You will only get illuminated when you again start acting in a civilised manner. Until then, the only way to find the truth is to continue pushing with your court protest. Rest assured that I sign myself the letters that I compose and I do sleep soundly for that matter.
You are mistaken when you say " has anyone been sorry for me and all my friends that were made redundant in 2003. " Apart from that you were NOT made redundant, you should thank those persons who worked hard , so that nobody got redundant in 2003. Yes, if you do not want to support me for having a personal grudge for the wrong reasons, okay, I can live with that. However you should use your skills and energy in supporting all your ex-colleagues, especially those younger ones, who unlike you , are now being faced with a difficult situation.
Re the so called "Hefty amount", you are also totally wrong since it was actually a rectification of an anomaly which had been going on for two decades and that was in March and not October 2003.
Anyway, this is my last cmmunication, therefore " God Bless".
Denis Bartolo
Aug 9th 2008, 04:55
Will someone inform how many employees from the private sector got the choice of an early retirement scheme, terminal benefits and tax free pay outs.
What and why do Dockyard employees have these super termination options when others do not.
Reality is that the 49 million euros come from those who contribute their regular tax contributions!!!!!!
Do free market workers have an obligation to pay off these people who are surplus to the dockyards' needs???
Are they also entitled to unemployment benefits too????
More details please?
J, Marshall
Aug 8th 2008, 22:30
@Godfrey Borg
That makes two amused people in this sorry saga,because I am also amused at your comment, typical of the management of Malta Drydocks it is always the blame of someone else and never their own.
May I remind you that when the workers were being made redundant in 2003 the management was getting a hefty amount added to their salary.
As for making life hell for someone i need not commment about that do you sleep soundly at night??
You mentioned the court protests but do you know that that the management chickened out and is using all excuses so that these cases stay dormant.
As for my former colleagues yes I am sorry for them but has anyone been sorry for me and all my friends that were made redundant in 2003.
It was the management that decided who stayed and who left in 2003 but they didn't have the guts to sign the letters, they made the chairman of the time sign the letters and yes it was promotions galore in the last 4 years at least we agree on something. Again if you know something we dont please illuminate us
Godfrey Borg
Aug 8th 2008, 22:02
@ My Dear J Marshall,
I noted your comment and am really amused. Perhaps that makes you more happy and serene knowing that what goes round comes round. What about your other former colleagues.
That is why I said in my comment that division and hatred was sown in 2003 between ex-shipyard workers.
If you want to know the whole truth of the tragedy that happened in the shipyards in 2003, all you have to do is follow up on the supposed court protests that 340 workers has forwarded in court. Perhaps you may well get a real surprise.
You are owed one tip however. First we remove a foreman, a chargeman and make life hell for the other chargeman in a certain department. Then we replace same by promoting others.
Why don't you ask the person who actually signed the letter, back in 2003, why he condoned all this.
There were and still are different of levels of management in the shipyards. I think you are aiming for the wrong one.
That, my dear all, was one of the repurcussions of the Shipyards 2003 exercise.
So, my dear, calm down, and think about the future of your former colleagues.
D Attard
Aug 8th 2008, 20:18
@ J Briffa
You said "This is rich; being paid from the taxpayers' money! " From where do you think the Govt is getting funds to pay the ex-Ministers and ex-Parl Secs, so god forbid, they don't "die of hunger?" So it's fine to contribute to the ex-MP's already fat pockets but not to skilled hardworking people. You probably blindly accept the termination of the first time property buyers' scheme and the u-turn on tax revisions! But you're not happy if your taxes go towards a grp of people whose only fault was to be fed with blatant lies prior to the election!
Armand Cini
Aug 8th 2008, 20:02
Joe Muscat a Kid? NOOOOOO he's a WONDER KID. He aint started yet. Give him a break.
J.Borg
Aug 8th 2008, 20:00
I think that JM stated that IPSL should be offered to those who wouldn't take the ERS offer......i don't think that all workers will stay. Am sure most of them will take offer. So how did the 40 million euro been calculated if we don't know how many will not take up the offer.
Stop confusing our minds.
This is a national issue and the government should invite the opposition for talks on how to get the best offer for the drydocks and also how to tackle the workers probem. And not do like an ostrich and stick our heads in the sand and do how we like.
This is the new way how to do politics and national issues should be dealt with as such.
Rebecca Axiak
Aug 8th 2008, 19:42
@B Camilleri
You write
Why should a parent of 45 years have to get around 2.5 years salary and then God knows who will employ him with at least the same salary?
....
as if 2.5 salary (AND unemployment benefit until s/he finds a new job) - as if it was 'peanuts' ? that's a good two and a half years, getting paid for not working and time to find a new job. Keep in mind that most of the labourers at the dockyards are skilled labourers. I'm sure their skills will be required in other places such as Lufthansa Technik, etc. Plus, if they're good, I'm sure the new management will be interested in acquiring their services.
I'm not saying it's an easy decision - but to be frank ..two and a half years salary sounds pretty reasonable.
And this is in a time when unemployment is hitting record low levels and companies are complaining about a 'tight' market.
J. Marshall
Aug 8th 2008, 19:35
@Godfrey Borg
Maybe you know something the rest of us dont know, but it was the Shipyards Management that send the letters to the workers in 2003 and not the government why blame the government when at the time the management was in cahoots with the government . It was the shipyards management that decided who stayed and who left.
How does it feel to be in the same boat as the workers that were made redundant from the dockyard in 2003. Iz-zmien itwal miz-zalzett Godfrey Borg what goes around comes around.
Brandon Camilleri
Aug 8th 2008, 19:23
I cannot understand how things are interpreted here in Malta. Is this the same goverment that once spoke of social conscience? Is this the same goverment that guaranteed work for all? So how come that workers that are being dismissed from their job, as no other option is possible, are not given the same right as others before them? Why should a parent of 45 years have to get around 2.5 years salary and then god knows who will employ him with at least the same salary? These are the same workiers that worked hard all their lives in miserable working conditions and should not be used by the new (sic) goverment to make a show of them. All are asking to make open discussion, but it seems that this goverment offers no solutions. It is either his way or nothing.
Please keep in mind that we are walking of workers and their families and not just numbers and figures. We have to also keep in mind that those who retire will still be paid from our taxes for the time to come.
Jason Agius Miceli
Aug 8th 2008, 19:18
Most of you have 'protested' against Government for offering a one-time payment of 49 million euro.
Now JM is proposing employing dock workers with Government, which works out to 40 million euro annually, that's 200 million solely for the next 5 years.
Nothing against that?
Joseph E Briffa
Aug 8th 2008, 18:44
How long are we going to keep hunting with the hounds and running with the hares? Privatisation is the thing and offering retirement schemes which will be grabbed by the skilled workers. Only the dead wood will opt for the status quo; where else will they get the kind of money they are getting now, surely not from a private establishment? Give them an option to transfer to IPSL?! This is rich; being paid from the taxpayers' money! They either opt for the generous schemes, and set up shop on their own and put their skills and knowhow to good use or, if they prefer, end up without a job, and without any financial compensation. They must be mad to go the latter way, as advised by Toni Zarb. Will he then find them a job with the GWU? I doubt it.
Godfrey Borg
Aug 8th 2008, 18:38
Yes, I acknowledge that the IPSL was a success story. It would have been a greater success , if the Appledore suggestion that these same workers be put in a labour pool in order to use them also when the shipyards experience heavy workloads. However, the Government through, either through his direct or indirect blessing, let letters be sent to these same workers sowing division and hatred. Apart from that, he blessed the intake of foreign workers.
What baffles me is why the Government do not want to repeat the same success in 2008 irrespective of what the MLP said at that moment in time.
Re the proposed voluntary retirement schemes, are they really voluntary or not ? May I humbly ask, whether voluntary means " I will give you your retirement, when I actually want to , in order to ensure continuity " Don't you think that you are again discriminating against able and valid persons , thus reducing their chances of re-employment. I believe that everyone should be given a level playing field and if government require "continuity" , then he should immediately start discussions with these same people and not again victimising them for their abilities.
D Attard
Aug 8th 2008, 18:37
@ J Micallef
Was your comment directed at Joseph Muscat? Nationalists and pro-nationalists are busy labelling JM as a kid, seemingly because they have nothing else to cling on.
You are missing the main point...shipyard workers were promised something which the PM knew very well could not be give!!! Can you at least admit that he had promised them peace of mind, or will you continue to be in denial? It's a good thing that the shipyard is privatised seeing that the management, even after the 2003 restructuring did not manage to turn things round. But I still am of the opinion that the workers should not simply be made redundant!
Jeremy J Camilleri
Aug 8th 2008, 18:03
I was referring to c Briffa in my previous write up, but I guess you all noticed...
Armand Cini
Aug 8th 2008, 17:12
CARMELO BRIFFA
Usually the PN says one thing and after the election is won - stolen - robbed say what on earth you want they say the opposite. tal labour dahk fil wicc - are we living on the same island or what?
J Micallef
Aug 8th 2008, 17:12
It looks like the kid and the yes men around him are lost on this one, and have no idea where to start and what to propose.
Grow up first!! Maybe one day you'll learn a few lessons how to tackle the economy and the country issues. Reality is much different than theory and the certificates that you are so proud of.
I. M. Dingli
Aug 8th 2008, 17:10
@ Carmelo Briffa
Look whose talking about saying one thing and another the next minute!!! Who made promises before the elections of last March? Who guaranteed no jobs will be lost? Who gave letters to the bus, mini-bus, taxis & hearses owners that liberalisation will not take place? Was it the PN or MLP? And these are just a few of the promises given which come to mind instantly due to the things that happened in Malta during the past few days.
Jeremy J Camilleri
Aug 8th 2008, 16:55
Ha..you're one to talk....5 months ago GonziPN was saying that no downsizing was planned....and now this
..Are you living in a dream?
SO what was said 5 months ago does NOT bother you, and what was said in 2003, when Joseph Muscat was not even an mp bothers you....
My oh my...you must be VERY confused!
D Attard
Aug 8th 2008, 16:46
@ carmelo briffa
Why do you think it so awful for a poliical party to rethink its position on different issues? JM's proposal continues to show that he is open to ideas and suggestions and does not try to politicise every single thing that happens in this country...like some prefer doing.
If political parties do as you bid, and keep upholding the same view on all matters, change and progress can never take place. Is this so difficult to understand?
carmelo briffa
Aug 8th 2008, 15:54
To MLP JM How come one minute the MLP say one thing and the next minute they say another thing. It is either yes or no. Is this what the call a NEW MLP by JM. ?or are we living in the same era? Same people same faces and same dahq fill wicc!!!