The government said this afternoon that it welcomed the decision of the GWU to return to talks on the privatisation of Malta Shipyards and said that on Monday it would invite the union for meetings.

The Finance Ministry said the confrontational tone evident at the union’s meeting on Wednesday had drawn all round criticism, and even organisations which were represented at the event had issued statements calling for peaceful talks.

“The government never closed the door to negotiations, but it is important that the talks are held in a context which leads to successful privatisation of the shipyard, something which the GWU says it agrees with.

“The government remains ready for talks on fine-tuning the voluntary early retirement and resignation schemes and to keep the GWU informed on the progress of the privatisation process.”

In its statement, the ministry also appealed to the GWU to stop trying to give the impression that some sort of guarantees were given to the workers before the elections.

It explained that in a a letter sent to all the workers before the elections, the government explained that while it was not planning a downsizing of the enterprise, no further subsides could be given after December 31, 2008. It said that private partners were needed to participate in the shipyard, and that some assets, such as Boiler Wharf, would be used for the cruise liner business.

The government was respecting what was promised by seeking to make the shipyard financially viable.

The early retirement and resignation schemes were voluntary. They were not intended to reduce the size of the company, but to make it more viable. Downsizing took place when an employer resorted to forced redundancies on the basis of last in, first out, in order to reduce the size of the enterprise.

The government said it hoped that the union would keep the workers better informed instead of holding a “manifestation of incitement and threats” that was detrimental to the prospects for interest in the privatisation process.