Agreement or confrontation

The government could choose agreement with the General Workers' Union over the shipyards, in the national interest, or the route of confrontation - and the union was ready for both, GWU secretary general Tony Zarb said yesterday.

Addressing a rally for shipyard workers at the GWU headquarters, in Valletta, Mr Zarb said that if the government chose confrontation it would have to shoulder the responsibility for what might happen and not put the blame on GWU officials.

The first route, on the other hand, would be honourable for all.

Mr Zarb said the union never told workers to take to the streets and be violent or create chaos. The union did not believe in violence. But if it needed to address the workers again, it would do so in the streets.

He said there was a problem in the negotiations over the shipyards' collective agreement and this was partly due to the fact that the delegation representing the government had three ministers who would soon be in a leadership race. Before negotiating with the union, they should first agree between themselves on what they wanted.

The GWU, he said, would never accept a wage freeze. It would continue to have a sense of responsibility but the government should not try to adopt measures that had not been agreed upon with the union.

If workers at the shipyards were not to be given increases because the 'yards were Lm14 million in the red, neither should ministers, considering that the country was Lm1,200 million in the red.

The union wanted to carry on negotiating but over the whole package, he said. If necessary it would take industrial action.

It was willing to discuss work practices but justice had to be done. The top people at the shipyards were paid thousands of liri, supposedly to put the shipyards back on their feet.

The government would not succeed in trapping the union by closing down the 'yards.

He said workers had to face the challenges with courage and determination. They had only two routes to choose from - prepare themselves or allow themselves to be dragged along. The GWU would support those going for the first option, as those at yesterday's rally had done, because they were not afraid of challenges.

Deputy secretary general Manuel Micallef said all Maltese workers would fight against closing the shipyards.

The union, he said, had been negotiating responsibly. He denied the accusation that the union had left the negotiating table but said it had been thrown out. He was ready to take an affidavit on this.

The union was ready to go straight back to the talks.

During the negotiations, the union officials had told the management they understood its proposal to be a wage freeze. Social Policy Minister Lawrence Gonzi had confirmed this and added he did not mind saying so, Mr Micallef claimed.

The union was not against performance-related pay but this should be accompanied by a decent wage increase to compensate for new work practices. The union also wanted to be involved in the measurement of performance.

Metal and construction section secretary Alfred Cassar said workers were not to blame for the losses suffered by the shipyard. The deficit was due to bad management.

Services section secretary Karmenu Vella said the union had always insisted that no worker from the two 'yards should end up without a job. This was the union's priority and the main problem that it needed to solve.

Restructuring should mean wise investment, professional and dynamic management, serious structures, initiatives that promoted efficiency and productivity and continuous training for workers.

While the union understood the importance of a new collective agreement which reflected the current situation, it could not accept workers losing rights they had acquired over the years.

He said he expected all organisations in the country, including unions, the Church and the three political parties, to speak clearly in favour of the shipyard workers retaining their jobs.