John Camilleri (Shipyards And The Line Of Least Resistance, July 9) obviously knows nothing about the history of the Dockyard when he says that privatising the 'yard is "the line of least resistance".

Ever since 1959 when the shipyards were commercialised, each and every government tried various alternatives, including self-management. That was the time when the employees appointed their own council and when, if things were going right, they took the credit. But of course when things went wrong it was management's fault. In this context his question as to why the managers have to blame the workers clearly shows that Mr Camilleri does not think that managers in the shipyard are workers as much as (often even more than) those on the shop floor.

Numerous alternatives were offered to the workers in the last 50 years or so, with the workforce reduced from the original Bailey 6,000 to the 1,700 workers of today. But unfortunately work practices have remained the same.

Mr Camilleri might like to know that in the early 1970s even a former German retired World War II admiral was appointed managing director by the government of the day without success.

No, Mr Camilleri, not the line of least resistance, but a case of a final effort to save the shipyard.