GWU rattles the sabre over recognition at shipyards

The Italian company that took over the management of Malta Shipyards was refusing the grant the General Workers’ Union recognition, general secretary Tony Zarb complained yesterday.

Although it waited for seven months, the union had not yet been granted recognition despite representing 47 of the company’s 50 industrial employees, Mr Zarb said.

He said it was “completely unacceptable” that the company refused to agree to a recognition verification process carried out by the Director of Employment and Industrial Relations, especially when it had asked for it itself.

He called on the company to immediately give it recognition and asked Minister Dolores Cristina and Parliamentary Secretary Chris Said, both responsible for employment and industrial relations, to intervene.

Mr Zarb explained that the union had been pursuing recognition since December last year but regularly faced a brick wall. Then, when the union sent all the documentation proving it represented the absolute majority of industrial workers there, the company asked the Director of Employment and Industrial Relations to carry out an independent exercise. This involved asking workers, one by one, whether they were members of any union and, if yes, which one. The director concluded his verification process but the company refused to honour it.

To make matters worse, Mr Zarb said, the company took it upon itself to conduct its own exercise, asking employees whether they were members of the GWU and whether they agreed with it. He said this amounted to undue industrial pressure, especially in view of the fact that workers had a constitutional right to join a union.

Mr Zarb insisted the union wanted to be active at Malta Shipyards and to work closely with Palumbo to help it, through its contacts, attract more work to Malta.

He said the union wanted to hold meetings with the company and stressed that, what the union could not say around the table, “we will say it from the streets”.

Questions sent to Palumbo on the matter remained unanswered.