Ministry rubbishes Labour's IPSL idea

The Finance Ministry yesterday rubbished Labour leader Joseph Muscat's idea for dockyard workers to be given the option to join IPSL Ltd, saying this jarred with the MLP's own criticism in 2003 when the company was set up to employ the workers shed during the 'yards' restructuring exercise.

While accusing the government of throwing money at the shipyard problem by offering early retirement schemes to the tune of €49 million, Dr Muscat's idea would increase the workforce in the civil service at a cost of €40 million a year, the ministry said.

The ministry was reacting to comments made by Dr Muscat during a meeting he had with the General Workers' Union on Thursday. Dr Muscat had said the MLP wanted the shipyards' workers to be productive rather than receive money from an early retirement scheme to stay home.

The ministry said that in 2003, when the workers were given the IPSL option, the MLP had argued that valuable skills were being lost because their trades would not be utilised in a productive manner. Now Dr Muscat was calling IPSL (Industrial Projects and Services Ltd) a success story.

On the other hand, the Ministry welcomed the fact that the MLP was in favour of privatisation, saying the fact that both the MLP and the GWU agreed on the future of the shipyard was "a victory for the Maltese people".

The schemes had to be offered now, because in terms of EU directives on transfer of business, once the new operator was identified, it would absorb the workers under current conditions. It was important that the early retirement schemes succeed in order to reduce the number of workers on the new operator's books, thus allowing privatisation to go through.

Replying to queries raised by Dr Muscat during his meeting with the union officials, the ministry said no talks were being held with potential investors.

The companies indicated by Dr Muscat - two from Singapore and one from Norway - had shown an interest last year but they could not continue the process because of the number of workers at the 'yards.

The ministry expressed concern that the MLP did not seem to understand the drastic negative effect a failed privatisation process would have on the company and its workers.

Malta Shipyards would not be able to continue operating after December 31 and the board would have no option but to declare the company bankrupt and fold it.

Referring to Dr Muscat's charge that workers were not given any choice, the ministry said this was not the case. The workers could either take the scheme and receive assistance to reintegrate into the world of work, or else wait until the company is privatised and start working with the new company according to the EU transfer of business directive.

In its reaction, the Labour Party said it would steer away from possible political issues with the government on the shipyards, saying its only interest was the national interest and that of the workers.

It reiterated that the government should explain the €100 million reportedly lost in the two Fairmount contracts. On Thursday, Dr Muscat had called for a fully-fledged investigation into these losses.

The MLP said it also could not understand why the government was opposing the IPSL idea when it was so much in its favour when it had set up the company specifically for such a reason.