Government 'cautiously optimistic'

The government is "cautiously optimistic" about reaching an agreement with the General Workers' Union over the shipyards' privatisation, a spokesman for the Finance Ministry said yesterday. The statement, which comes in the wake of a similarly optimistic outlook by the union's general secretary Tony Zarb, marks a new development in the privatisation process.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Mr Zarb said that "the mediator got the two sides closer to each other", adding that "before we know it we could strike a deal".

Talks between the government and the union on the fate of the workers stalled last month when the GWU felt the need to call a meeting for 'yard workers in Paola, where Mr Zarb and union section secretary Sammy Meilaq warned the government not to forge ahead without the union.

After that, a mediator stepped in and things started moving along.

The main bones of contention are the GWU's demand for retirement schemes to be delayed until the government has a buyer for the 'yards and the demand for workers who do not opt for the schemes to be given a guarantee of employment.

The government has been arguing that with the present workforce there will be no takers for the shipyards, which is why it has been emphasising the need to reduce the workforce before the sale.

So far about 300 of the 1,000 workers by which the government is planning to downsize the 1,700-strong workforce have applied for the voluntary retirement schemes, which end next month. The Finance Ministry said it was encouraged by the numbers so far, pointing out that there was still time to go.

According to the latest ministry figures, most applications fall under scheme D (for workers aged below 40).

There were 89 of these, followed by 87 for scheme C (workers aged 40 to 49), 73 for scheme A (workers over 56 years) and, lastly, 25 applications for scheme B (workers aged between 50 and 55).

The yards' privatisation is a last-ditch attempt at resolving a thorny national issue which has been hanging around the neck of successive administrations for decades.

According to Malta's EU accession agreement, the government will not be allowed to subsidise the shipyards from next January.