Finance Minister Tonio Fenech yesterday presented the General Workers' Union with proposed early retirement schemes for Malta Shipyards workers.
The proposals were submitted during the second meeting between the two sides following the government's decision to privatise the company earlier this month.
The GWU was represented by its general secretary Tony Zarb. It is to get back to the minister with counter proposals by Friday.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, held at the Finance Ministry in Valletta, Mr Fenech said the parties discussed the workers' rights but there were still some sticking points and discussions would continue. According to experts, for the shipyards to be viable, the number of workers - currently standing at 1,700 - had to be cut down to between 450 and 700, Mr Fenech said.
The government had proposed the early retirement schemes with this goal in mind. The schemes would be open to all the workers.
Signing up for a scheme would not preclude a worker from taking up employment elsewhere. But the government could not guarantee employment to those who did not sign up, he said.
On August 11, the government will be issuing a call for expressions of interest and will be advertising this call in various specialised international journals and gazettes.
The privatisation of the shipyards could fail if it was not handled well, that is, if the call for the expressions of interest and the workers' schemes were not dealt with in a successful manner, Mr Fenech pointed out.
Privatisation would be viable if the government ensured that any new operating companies were not burdened with too many conditions.
He categorically denied allegations that the shipyards would be transformed into "real estate", adding that the privatisation would be handled like that of the Freeport - where the land was transferred to third parties through a temporary lease.
The real assets of the shipyards, the docks, would not be sold and conditions would be laid down to ensure that private operators would not change the nature of the activity carried out there.
The four main sections of the 'yards - ship repair, the Manoel Island yacht yard, super yacht services and Marsa ship building - could either be sold together or separately.