GWU demands recognition

The two port workers' unions are still fighting over who should be recognised as the workers' official representative after the General Workers' Union held a secret poll which found it had the support of 53 per cent of workers.

The GWU's general secretary Tony Zarb yesterday demanded official recognition, saying he would be calling a meeting with Social Policy Minister John Dalli in the hope that the dispute would not escalate further.

The Malta Dockers' Union on Friday called the GWU's secret ballot "farcical" and "irregular", insisting it had 327 paid-up members from a total of 366 port workers.

The MDU was set up two years ago by port workers who wanted to leave the GWU. However, workers can opt to be members of both unions so it is unclear who has the majority representation.

GWU decided a secret ballot would settle the dispute and commissioned the law firm Buttigieg and Refalo Advocates to carry it out. It claims to have won 194 of the 236 votes cast, while only 38 workers voted for the MDU.

Although 130 workers did not vote, possibly because the MDU said it would not respect the outcome, the GWU says the figures prove it enjoys the support of the majority of workers so it should be officially recognised. However, the MDU insists that the best way of sorting out the dispute would be for the membership records of each union to be scrutinised by the Department of Employment and Industrial Relations. In fact, the MDU turned down an invitation by the GWU to have one of its members follow the ballot process. Meanwhile, the Director of Employment and Industrial Relations has said he would meet the port workers individually to see which union they would like to be represented by.

The GWU yesterday called this procedure undemocratic because, unlike a secret ballot which guarantees privacy, it would expose the workers to "retaliation" by the MDU.

The GWU added it was "very worried" about the way the department was being run and would discuss this matter with the minister.