A union has raised the spectre of industrial action that could halt the loading and unloading of goods at the Grand Harbour.
The chief executive of the UĦM Voice of the Workers, Josef Vella, yesterday said an agreement had been reached with the Transport Ministry to raise the tariffs paid to the foremen of stevedores.
However, the matter has been stalled at the Prime Minister’s Office since before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country.
“We already have directives in place but if we get nowhere, we’ll have to escalate and this could badly affect imports and even exports,” Vella said.
The foremen are responsible for the logistical coordination of the loading and unloading of cargo in ports, excluding the Freeport.
Vella said they had not been granted any increase in their tariffs since 2012. The tariffs are paid on a per tonne basis and their request is for a few more cents per tonne to make up for the rise in the cost of living.
This would translate into a negligible increase on the products being imported and exported, Vella said.
Not excluding taking the matter to court if the situation persists
Such a situation, he added, was fuelling a form of discrimination against this category of workers, who play a crucial part in the importation and distribution of goods in Malta.
He complained that while successive governments had promised to address the situation, including former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, these workers had remained without adjustments to their fees.
The UĦM Voice of the Workers, which represents the Port Workers Foremen Cooperative, declared an industrial dispute last month and has issued directives relating to administrative procedures.
“So far we’re just ordered them not to fill in forms,” Vella said.
“But Transport Malta is acting as a strike breaker by collecting this information through different sources. We are not excluding taking the matter to court if the situation persists because this is illegal.”
A spokesman for the cooperative said their analysis showed their request would only alleviate some of their expenses without burdening consumers.
However, UĦM has looked at the issue from a long-term perspective, by proposing the introduction of a rate-adjustment mechanism for foremen.
This idea is based on the successful introduction of the cost-of-living mechanism which was crucial to improving the relationship between social partners and government.
The situation has deteriorated further due to lack of investment in the Grand Harbour’s infrastructure over the years, rendering the facilities inadequate for the current volume of cargo, the spokesman for the cooperative said.
Questions sent to the Transport Ministry remained unanswered by the time of going to print.