Malta Shipyards targeted turnover for 2006 of Lm18 million has already been exceeded, and more work has been booked for 2007. All that the management expects is that the workers deliver what has been promised, an Investment, Industry and IT Ministry spokesman said yesterday.
The spokesman was contacted for comments on a letter sent by the General Workers Union (GWU) Shipyards Section to the Malta Shipyards Ltd (MSL) chairman John Cassar White yesterday.
The letter, signed by the section president Pawlu Bugeja and assistant secretary Massimo Alakkad, included a “resolution” which was said to have been unanimously approved by MSL employees.
Sources told this newspaper that the letter was sent following a meeting organised yesterday morning by GWU shop steward Sammy Meilaq for MSL employees of the Cospicua branch. Employees from the Marsa and Manoel Island branches did not attend the meeting, although invited to do so.
The ministry spokesman said that from losses of Lm26.6 million in 2002 and Lm22.9 million in 2003, the company had brought down its deficit to Lm9.5 million in 2004 (the year the company was restructured) and again down to Lm8.8 million last year.
The spokesman said that the projected turnover of Lm18 million for the current year has already been achieved. This includes two large projects worth Lm7 million and Lm3 million. Moreover, the company’s management is already taking bookings and confirming work for 2007.
The spokesman said that, this year, the government is committing Lm5.6 million in operating aid, Lm1.3 million for capital expenditure and a further Lm126,000 for training. By 2008, Malta is committed to having viable shipyards and cannot continue grant-ing subsidies.
“The company is delivering and is achieving very good results. It is respecting the collective agreement and all it expects is that the employees work and deliver what is expected of them,” the spokesman said.
In their resolution, which has been seen by The Malta Independent, the workers complained about a number of things. Among them was a contract awarded by MSL in 2004 to a company called Cape East, for the construction of scaffolding for employees to work on projects. The workers complained that this was an extra expense and demanded that the contract be revised in collaboration with the GWU.
The workers also complained about foreign workers, to whom they refer as “casual workers”, who are employed on a temporary basis to fill vacancies for skilled employees needed to work on certain projects. The MSL workers said that these workers should be able to speak Maltese, because they are finding it difficult to work with them due to the fact that they have to use sign language. They also complained about the payment of overtime to foremen and supervisors, who are not entitled to overtime because, following the restructuring exercise, they were included in the managerial grades and thus are not paid extra.
Sources said this resolution was a “flexing of muscles” exercise and an attempt to dictate what decisions the management should take in the best interests of the company.