(Adds GWU's reaction)
The General Workers’ Union is in breach of a contract it entered into with the government when it leased part of its Valletta headquarters to ARMS Ltd, according to democracy shadow minister Jason Azzopardi.
Standing in front of the ARMS office in Old Bakery Street, Dr Azzopardi said a contract approved by Parliament in 1997 allowed the GWU to rent out parts of the building to companies in which it had a 51 per cent shareholding.
The GWU premises had been awarded to the union on long term lease by the government in the 1950s, barring the union from using the property for commercial purposes.
The 1997 amendment was intended to allow the union make commercial use of the property as long as the union had a majority in the companies involved.
Dr Azzopardi said it was obvious the GWU was not a shareholder in the government company ARMS Ltd.
He asked what was the position of the Land Department over the breach of this contract and put the onus on the Prime Minister, under whose responsibility the department fell.
“Why has Joseph Muscat authorised the breach of a public contract that was approved by Parliament?”
He insisted the government should give an explanation for this blatant disregard of a public contract which followed a Parliamentary resolution.
Dr Azzopardi also asked why the General Workers’ Union had become apologetic towards the government since the election.
In a reply, the union made absolutely no reference to Dr Azzopardi's claims about the contract with ARMS but accused the Nationalist Party of saying it wanted to work hand in hand with it but acting in a completely different manner.
The union said that the Nationalist administration had repeatedly attacked its commercial interests to weaken its ability to stand up for workers.
The Nationalist government had stopped it from operating Cargo Handling, stopping an important source of income. At the same time, the Nationalist government had rented a building from the Union Haddiema Maghqudin.
This showed that the policy exercised by the PN was inconsistent and one of two weights and two measures, the GWU said.
It said it was working incessantly for workers, especially its members, to have their jobs and rights safeguarded. These included Enemalta employees with whom it was in a continuous and constructive dialogue.
This was in contrast to the confrontational attitude adopted by the PN in government, which led to the dismissal of a number of workers from places such as Sea Malta, Selmun and Interprint.
The PN had also led to the closer of the Dockyard and Shipbuilding.