Muscat distances himself from GWU's militant language

Joseph Muscat has distanced himself firmly from the language and tone used by General Workers' Union (GWU) speakers who addressed shipyard workers at a meeting in Paola last Wednesday attended by the Labour leader and his deputies.

The following day, the Labour Party issued a statement insisting that the only way forward for the privatisation of the shipyards was via discussion and "pacific initiatives".

Pushed further to clarify his position yesterday, Dr Muscat said the tone and language used was counter-productive and "provided ammunition to those people who are actively working against workers' interests".

At the meeting, GWU general secretary Tony Zarb threatened to march on Castille if the union's demands are not met and former Malta Drydocks council chairman Sammy Meilaq spoke in terms of toppling the government.

Also at the meeting were former MLP leaders Alfred Sant and Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, whose presence reminded many of the "marriage" between the GWU and the Labour Party. Others recalled Dr Sant's declaration that for the MLP, the GWU was the preferred union.

Dr Muscat is perceived by some as having lacked political maturity by being there.

The former head of the Labour media, Alfred Mifsud criticised the Labour leadership's decision to attend in an article for The Malta Independent, saying this would "distance, rather than endear, the growing segment of floating voters from Labour".

Dr Muscat yesterday said: "The language used was definitely not my kind of language. The way forward is discussion. On the other hand, I understand this is not only an issue on the future of the 'yard, but about political honesty.

"You cannot have a leader of a political party in government promising not to downsize the shipyard, but who breaks this promise just a few weeks later."

Dr Muscat said he was pleased that the negotiations will continue today and he was looking forward to a solution that was "in the country's interests".