The General Workers’ Union has obtained 81 per cent of a secret ballot, representing 53 percent of licensed port workers, it claimed in a statement.

The union said that the voting was led by the independent company Buttigieg & Refalo Advocates and 236 workers cast their vote.

But the Malta Dockers Union in another statement described the voting as a farce and said that it had documentation to show that 327 licensed port workers were its members and no secret ballot could change this verdict.

The GWU said that its victory proved its claim that it enjoyed the support of the majority of licensed port workers and it was to immediately work harder in the interests of the workers involved.

It said that the result brought to nothing all attempts by the authorities concerned to hinder and make it impossible for the union to obtain this result.

The GWU said it wrote to the Maritime Authority and the Freeport Corporation requesting recognition.

The MDU, on the other hand, said it was requesting the registrar of Trade Unions to inspect its books, as he had the power to do according to law.

It accused the GWU of being afraid to submit its books to the registrar of Trade Unions and asked what was the GWU afraid of.

The MDU said that when, in September 2006, it had the membership and resignation forms which showed it represented the majority of workers, it presented these to the registrar and to GWU general secretary Tony Zarb.

What was holding the GWU from doing the same thing if it really enjoyed majority support, the MDU asked.