The war of words between the Malta Dockers Union and the General Workers' Union continues as the former accuses the latter of throwing mud to try to save face from the fiasco which followed the licensed port workers recognition debacle earlier this year.

MDU president Joe Saliba on Tuesday said the GWU was no longer seeking recognition of licensed port workers but this claim was yesterday denied by the GWU.

The two unions are in dispute over representation of the port workers with both claiming they represented the majority of workers.

The issue was taken to court after the GWU ordered industrial action at the Freeport and the court upheld a Freeport request for a garnishee order against the GWU, freezing the union's assets. The order, and the industrial actions, were lifted following the intervention of Social Policy Minister John Dalli.

But Mr Saliba on Tuesday reacted to accusations by the GWU that he was stuck to his post by announcing he was stepping down, 18 months before the end of his term.

A spokesman for MDU said this morning that nominations for the post of president are being received until Tuesday but none had been submitted so far.

The MDU said that 268 out of the 327 licensed port workers who were its members attended the general meeting on Tuesday.

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