MDU accuses GWU of harassing port workers

Port workers were being harassed into paying their General Workers' Union membership dues despite having resigned more than a year ago, a rival union claimed yesterday.

The allegations were vehemently denied by GWU general secretary Tony Zarb who said letters were only being sent to its members, as was standard practice.

"The letters are only being sent to our members. Those who resigned were removed from our books. In the meantime, we received fresh applications and resignation letters from port workers who were MDU members but came back to us," Mr Zarb said.

"I never saw such terrorised workers as I am seeing now at the Freeport. They are fearing victimisation if they even mention the General Workers' Union," he added.

The two unions have been at loggerheads since more than 300 port workers resigned from the GWU in August 2006. Recently, the two unions were engaged in a tug-of-war over recognition as port workers' representatives, with both saying they enjoyed a majority.

In a letter to Employment and Industrial Relations director Noel Vella, MDU president Joe Saliba said those workers who resigned from the GWU and joined the MDU received a letter in recent days asking them to pay their membership dues.

Mr Saliba said the letters amounted to "abuse, poaching and harassment" of port workers. He also said they revealed the way the GWU was keeping records of workers still listed as its members despite resigning in August 2006.

Mr Saliba asked Dr Vella to order the GWU to stop sending such letters and to analyse the GWU's records so that its members' names would be struck off the GWU's books.

Earlier this week, Social Policy Minister John Dalli asked both unions to make their members' records available for vetting.

The GWU had organised a ballot and asked workers to vote for the union they wanted to represent them. However, this exercise, which resulted in a majority for the GWU, was not accepted by the MDU.

Dr Vella then carried out an exercise to determine majority representation and, based on the result, the company granted sole recognition to the MDU.

But the GWU refused to accept this result and pointed out that, in a secret ballot it had commissioned, 83 per cent confirmed it as their union of choice. It then ordered workers to go slow and work to rule but the Freeport took the matter to court and froze all the union's assets with a garnishee order to the tune of €1 million.

The deadlock over the issue was only broken when Mr Dalli intervened and the company management and the GWU agreed to lay down arms and reopen talks.