(Adds comments by Tony Zarb)

Labour Party deputy leader Toni Abela has appealed to President George Abela to help unblock the situation created with the granting of a €1 million garnishee order against the GWU at the request of Malta Freeport.

The order was granted by a court on Thursday following industrial action ordered by the GWU. The union has said the order effectively froze all its assets.

Dr Toni Abela, speaking at a seminar held by the GWU Youths, said this industrial action was part of a declared industrial dispute, and the granting of the garnishee order had been a dark day for Malta.

In condemning what had taken place, Dr Abela criticised the government for being merely a spectator.

He said the garnishee order - requested by Malta Freeport so that it could be compensated for damages - meant that the GWU could not act in the defence of the workers.

The PL deputy leader said he was calling on the President to intervene since he was a man of principle and held dear workers' rights and democracy.

GWU General Secretary Tony Zarb, who closed the seminar in the afternoon, said the garnishee order was an attempt to destroy the GWU.

He said the union had had all its assets frozen in an action which was clearly disproportionate.

The union, he insisted had acted democratically when it ordered industrial action, and it should not have ended up in court.

The GWU, he said, would do everything it could, locally and overseas, to counter the situation and would fight to the very end.

He also insisted that the GWU enjoyed the backing of the majority of port workers, as shown in the independent ballot which the GWU had commissioned and whose result had not been contested.