Malta Freeport has granted recognition to the Malta Dockers Union as the union representative of its port workers, the MDU said today. Recognition was given in writing after the Director of Industrial Relations carried out verifications of union membership, the union said.
Meanwhile, the GWU said a court had imposed a €1 million garnishee order at the request of Malta Freeport.
The GWU, which, like the MDU, had claimed to represent the majority of the port workers, yesterday said the verification process was a sham. It also ordered industrial action at Malta Freeport.
The union said the garnishee order had effectively frozen all its assets.
"This action by Malta Freeport is irresponsible, especially when the union only ordered limited industrial action," the GWU said. It questioned how the freeport was expecting compensation of €1 million as a consequence of the industrial action.
"The GWU can only conclude that this garnishee order is aimed at forcing it to stop its industrial action," the union said. It said the freeport request violated trade union immunity as granted in the Industrial Relations Act in the context of industrial disputes.
The freeport action, it added, was a threat to the trade union movement and for as long as it continued to be enforced, the GWU would not be able to serve its members, in all sectors.
"This is a very serious situation which the GWU views as threatening its own existence, and it therefore does not exclude the possibility of an escalation and a widening of the dispute," it said.
Meanwhile, Malta Freeport in a statement, said it was holding the GWU responsible for all damages after it "in an illegal and busive manner" ordered industrial action at the port. The freeport also confirmed it had granted recognition to the Malta Dockers Union.
In a statement earlier today, the GWU also hit out at the Malta Maritime Authority for ‘trying to shirk responsibility’ when it said it was not the employer of port workers workers.
The GWU pointed out that in 2006, it was the MMA which concluded a collective agreement for port workers with the MDU.
The GWU said it was a disgrace that a secret ballot of the workers, which was conducted independently by Prof Ian Refalo, was being ignored.
It said foreign trade unions would be sending representatives to Malta to look into the situation. The would also hold talks with the GWU on support they could offer to the port workers in Malta.