NEWS | Wednesday, 15 April 2009

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Workers, shop steward, suspended for ‘following union directives’ – GWU

Julia Farrugia
General Workers Union secretary Tony Zarb has confirmed with MaltaToday that as yet, no go-between has stepped in the Freeport issue.
On Saturday Labour Party deputy leader Toni Abela, speaking at a seminar held by GWU youths, launched an appeal to President George Abela to intervene and help unblock the situation. Earlier last week, at the request of Malta Freeport, a €1 million garnishee order was filed against the GWU, freezing all the union’s assets.
Toni Abela’s appeal was however received with a sceptical welcome by a number of union officials.
George Abela served as a legal consultant for the General Workers Union for 25 years, but stepped down in 2000 after a fierce clash with the union’s administration.
Later, Abela was perceived to ‘oppose’ the GWU, assisting a splinter group of port workers who formed the Malta Dockers’ Union during the port reforms of 2007.
The current dispute emerged after the GWU questioned the transparency of an exercise conducted by the Director of Labour to determine whether it was the GWU or the Malta Dockers’ Union that had the highest number of members.
The conclusion would have given one of the two unions the official recognition at the Freeport.
An independent exercise, which offered a secret vote amongst the workers, concluded that the GWU had the highest number of members, while the Director of Labour’s exercise had identified the MDU.
However, the Director of Labour opted to determine the figures by physically questioning the workers: a method slammed by the 11 unions forming the Forum Unions Maltin.
Contacted by MaltaToday, Tony Zarb said that “as yet, officially there is no mediator.”
“There were discussions about the possibility of mediation between the GWU and the Freeport, however everything has remained at a standstill and as yet there is no go-between.”
Asked directly whether he would be happy if President George Abela had to step in and act as a negotiator between the two parties, Tony Zarb did not give a direct answer. “Whoever can really and genuinely mean well in this issue… we will accept him,” the GWU secretary said, noncommittal.
“We consider this case as very serious. The Government must intervene. If not it means that the Government is approving what’s going on,” Zarb said.
“This is a serious threat on democracy. We can never accept that if a union goes on a legitimate industrial action, it ends up with all its assets frozen.”
Tony Zarb insisted that the government must act now: “We believe that the Government instead of simply posing in, it intervenes. If not the Government is an accomplice.”
The Labour Party has urged Malta Freeport and the GWU to resolve their current dispute over union recognition as soon as possible in the interests of the workers and trade unionism.
Employment relations spokesman Anglu Farrugia urged the freeport to make a gesture of good will by safeguarding trade union rights and the rights of the workers.

Suspensions
In the meantime, the GWU said that three licensed dock workers, including the GWU shop steward, were “illegally and abusively” suspended by the Malta Freeport for obeying union directives.
The union said the workers were suspending in breach of industrial law, which safeguards workers from any retaliation from employers over industrial actions.
“This shows that the Freeport management, after having asked for a garnishee order against the GWU, is now turning against the workers and suspending them for following legitimate directives that are within the law. This is just more threats to industrial relations in our country,” the GWU said.
European and international trade unions have been informed of the incident, the GWU said, adding it would not exclude taking the necessary steps if the suspensions are not withdrawn.

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