The privatisation of the shipyards is being discussed in a meeting between the General Workers’ Union and the government on Tuesday.

The union said in a statement the meeting, which had been cancelled repeatedly by the government, was finally being held.

It said that it had written to Finance Minister Tonio Fenech on October 22, reminding him that it had not yet been consulted on several aspects of the privatisation, including job security for workers who did not take up the early retirement schemes and the evaluation of the Marsa, Cospicua and Manoel Island facilities.

The union said that during the meeting it would also raise other pending issued such as the necessary amendments to the law so that the pensions of workers who took up the early retirement schemes would not be badly affected and for the government to honour the agreement reached in September last year to continuously consult the union on privatisation.

The GWU said it would be insisting on this since the government was ignoring this agreement.

It said it would not be accepting a situation where it learned what was happening from the media.