GWU seeks €8m guarantee for damages from Freeport
MDU challenges TUC president
The General Workers' Union yesterday appealed a court order freezing €1 million of its assets and requested that the Malta Freeport be ordered to deposit €8 million as a guarantee for damages it is suffering as a result.
The move is the latest in a dispute over union recognition which escalated after the GWU ordered workers at the Freeport to follow industrial action last Wednesday, insisting that it, and not the Malta Dockers Union (MDU), is the main trade union representing port workers.
In its court application yesterday, the GWU said it had an industrial dispute with the Malta Freeport and that the action was covered by immunity granted to trade unions in terms the Employment and Industrial Relations Act.
It insisted that the freezing of assets granted on a request of the Freeport on Thursday was, therefore, unjustified and should be revoked.
The sole purpose behind the garnishee order, it claimed, was to harm it and influence the media.
The GWU said the Malta Freeport knew the GWU would suffer the consequences of the order before the issue of union immunity was considered by the courts.
Its go-slow directive, it argued, had only been in force for a few hours and the garnishee order for €1 million was excessive and disproportionate. The order effectively meant that it could not operate and meet its financial obligations.
The union called on the court to order the Malta Freeport to deposit €8 million as a guarantee for damages caused to the union while the case was being heard in court.
On Thursday, the Freeport officially granted recognition to the MDU as the main representative of its port workers following a verification exercise by the Director of Industrial Relations.
But the GWU refused to accept the outcome and issued directives to workers to go slow, work to rule and take their break all together. It was at this point that the Freeport took the matter to court.
A garnishee order against a union has precedents but is not common. A case in 1997 also involved the Malta Freeport acting then against the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin. At the time, the Appeals Court underlined trade union immunity in the context of an industrial dispute.
Meanwhile, in a statement, the MDU challenged Alec McFadden, the president of the Merseyside Trade Union Council, to substantiate his claim that the MDU was supporting the Freeport and the court's actions.
The unions said that rather than reaching these conclusions, Mr McFadden ought to have seen what led to this banal situation which is endangering port workers' employment.
The MDU called on Mr McFadden to investigate why the GWU did not want to place its book of members at the disposal of the Director of Employment and Industrial Relations.