The dispute between the General Workers’ Union and Italian shipyard Palumbo on union recognition could end up before an industrial tribunal.

When contacted, managing director Antonio Palumbo said he did not want to enter into the merits of the dispute with the union as the case could be referred to the industrial tribunal.

He was asked to react to claims by the GWU that his firm, which took over the operations at the Malta Shipyards, was not granting it recognition as the union representing the majority of the 50 workers there.

GWU general secretary Tony Zarb on Monday slammed the company for failing to grant it recognition, something it had been pursuing since December last year.

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 this itself.

Mr Zarb said the company took it upon itself to conduct its own recognition exercise, asking employees, one by one, whether they were members of the GWU and whether they agreed with it.

In his opinion this amounted to undue pressure, especially in view of the fact that workers had a constitutional right to join a union.