The government this evening reiterated its warning that if the privatisation of Malta Shipyards failed, it could not be expected to guarantee jobs.

Reacting to a GWU statement (after the government announced it would invite the union for fresh talks on Monday), the government said that if the GWU would again insist on job guarantees, the government saw little hope that the union would be serious in its talks.

In its statement, the GWU said in reply to a previous government statement that it was ready for effective talks. It said it was holding meetings with the workers to keep them abreast of developments, after the government had ignored its suggestions for the future of the shipyard.

The truth was, the GWU said, that the government had gone into the talks with a fait accompli, offering nothing for discussion other than to urge the workers to retire or the shipyard would go under.

This was an arrogant, undemocratic and dishonest attitude.

With the government having ignored all proposals made to it, including the creation of a task force on the future of the shipyard and a call for an inquiry into dockyard mismanagement, the union said it had sought the support of a wide cross-section of society, including the MLP and Alternattiva Demokratika, which together enjoyed the support of the majority of the people.

The union said it was ready for effective talks on the retirement schemes and on ways to ensure that no workers who wished to continue to work would end up unemployed.

In its reaction, the government said the union knew that no government subsidies to Malta Shipyards were allowed after the end of the year and no one should expect taxpayers to shoulder the salaries of 1,700 people if the shipyard went bankrupt.

“It is only if privatisation succeeds that those who wish to remain at the dockyard can have their jobs safeguarded,” the government said.

It was in the interests of those who wished to stay on that those who wanted to leave were able to do so, the government said.