GWU points finger at Freeport

The General Workers' Union has accused the Freeport of reneging on its promise to pay the workers who had been suspended even though it had agreed to do so last month.

The agreement had been reached after the intervention of Social Policy Minister John Dalli at the height of a dispute over union recognition between the GWU and the Malta Dockers' Union.

The GWU had issued a go slow directive as the Freeport had successfully requested a garnishee order to freeze the union's assets.

The GWU said yesterday that when both sides had agreed to withdraw the actions against each other, the Freeport had also agreed to pay three workers the money they had lost while they had been suspended.

The union said it was being very cautious on the matter so as not to be accused of stirring trouble. However, the managing director was not keeping his word and this was unacceptable.

The GWU said it had informed Mr Dalli of the situation and he had confirmed such agreement had been reached and promised to intervene for the situation to be resolved.