Unions call for new port workers ballot

FOR.UM, a grouping of trade unions, has called on Malta Freeport to withdraw the €1 million garnishee order issued in its favour against the GWU.

The trade unions referred to the issue of union recognition involving the GWU and the Malta Dockers' Union at the freeport. They said the Employment and Industrial Relations Act was not clear on how such issues should be resolved. However the method adopted by the Director of Industrial Relations, where workers were individually asked their preference, yielded uncertainty, suspicion and lack of confidence.

The unions asked if the management of Malta Freeport was completely satisfied with the process followed by the Director of Industrial Relations, especially when a ballot commissioned by the GWU and carried out by a respected law firm, had shown a different result.

Everything indicated that the situation was not clear at all, and it was therefore premature for Malta Freeport to request a garnishee order against a trade union which rightly felt that matters were handled in a amateurish way, the FOR.UM said

The group said that while the garnishee order should be withdrawn, a secret ballot should be held under the supervision of the GWU and the MDU.

Meanwhile, the MDU in an earlier statement said this issue was created by the GWU, and it never asked the Director of Industrial Relations to conduct any verification.

The union said it had documentary evidence showing that 327 of 330 licensed port workers were its own paid-up members. It had invited the director to inspect its books. The GWU had not done so, and preferred to hold its own ballot.

The verification by the director only confirmed what was already known, the MDU said.