Malta Freeport was yesterday hit by industrial action ordered by the General Workers Union which insisted on “immediate” recognition by the company’s management.
Ordering a go-slow and work- to-rule the GWU said that it wants the management to agree to an immediate verification process to confirm that the majority of the Freeport workers, totalling some 700, are now members of the union.
The Freeport management yesterday said that the “uncalled for” industrial action is making the company lose business and held the GWU responsible for damages which it said amounted to hundreds of thousands of euros. Calling on the GWU to lift its industrial action and agree to a meeting tomorrow, the management warned that it reserves the right to take legal action against the union.
The Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin is at present recognised by the Freeport management but last month the GWU claimed recognition, insisting it now represented the majority of employees.
Pointing out that it already agreed to allow a verification process, the Freeport underlined that this has to be held according to the established procedures.
However, the GWU is insisting that this process should be done immediately.
“We can’t wait any longer as the management is trying to help the UĦM by dragging its feet,” the GWU’s secretary general Tony Zarb claimed when contacted.
“We want the verification process to be held today,” he insisted.
“They (the management) have been telling us for three weeks that this will be done,” Mr Zarb added.
On the other hand, the UĦM is claiming that the GWU wants to dictate procedures.
“We are ready to have a verification process and if need be an election among Freeport workers to state which union they want to represent them. However, it’s not the GWU which dictates how this is done as the law and established procedures need to be followed,” the UĦM’s secretary general Josef Vella said.
“It is ironic that while the GWU has for over a year been resisting a verification process at Malta Transport Services (the public bus company) they want the same process to happen at the Freeport in just a day,” he said.
In a statement, the Malta Employers Association protested over the GWU industrial action and said that this is yet another incident where employers were being caught in the crossfire of turf wars between trade unions.