GWU insists workers should be offered jobs in public sector

The General Workers' Union is insisting that the 13 Interprint workers who have been laid off should be offered a job in the public sector, despite clear signals from the Prime Minister that this was out of the question.

In two letters to the union, Dr Gonzi said he was willing to discuss how Interprint workers could be "helped to find work in the private sector".

In a letter to Dr Gonzi yesterday, however, GWU general secretary Tony Zarb said that whenever the union had talks with the government on restructuring or the closure of companies, the union had always insisted that the government should provide alternative employment in the public sector.

"This had happened in the case of Malta Drydocks, Malta Shipbuilding, Public Broadcasting Services, Malta Development Corporation, Metco, IPSE and Medigrain among others," Mr Zarb said.

In those cases where workers were redeployed, they had retained their seniority, salary and basic working conditions. In other cases, workers had been offered redundancy payments or early retirement schemes. These arrangements were not included in collective agreements but had been achieved through consultation, Mr Zarb said.

Reminding Dr Gonzi that the GWU would only suspend the notice of sympathy industrial action if the government involved the union wherever there is restructuring or downsizing "so that workers do not become victims", Mr Zarb said the union was still waiting for a meeting to discuss the whole matter.

Mr Zarb said the GWU preferred a round-the-table solution to confrontation, adding that the ball was now in the government's court.

"It is up to the government to choose the path of consultation that would lead to an agreement. The union prefers consultation but it does not depend on it alone," he said.

In a reply to the union on Wednesday, Dr Gonzi had argued that the government was not prepared to meet the union unless it withdrew the threats of industrial action unconditionally.

Dr Gonzi had maintained that talks should be limited to the Employment and Training Corporation's support of Interprint's 13 workers and how the corporation would help them find employment in the private sector.

In the wake of the government's decision to close down Interprint, the GWU had warned time and again that the other government-owned companies would be closed down and more workers would be laid off.

In a July 28 speech, Mr Zarb had said that the union was prepared to order widespread industrial action if the government did not call a meeting with the union by Wednesday of this week.