I refer to your editorial Saving the ship from sinking (TMID, 13 November) in which you sort of put the blame on the General Workers’ Union for the current situation at the Malta Shipyards.

To make your point you asserted that Investment, Industry and IT Minister Austin Gatt’s line of reasoning for the future of the Malta Shipyards is simple.

I want to point out that the GWU’s line of reasoning is even simpler in that the GWU has been saying for quite a while now that it is more than ready to face the challenges of productivity and of the current financial situation at the Malta Shipyards.

And while the union is ready to cooperate and assist in the process towards a solution, on the other hand it is not prepared to accept any wage cuts or further reduction of the workforce. This is in view of the fact that there are options other than those proposed by the government that can bear fruitful results for the shipyard.

I also want to draw your attention to the fact that with your editorial comments, you expressed your bias when you played the government’s tune so much so that you seemed to agree that either the Shipyard workers comply with the honourable minister’s initiative or face the consequences of wage cuts or even job losses, as if Dr Austin Gatt is always right and that only he possesses the key to the solution to all the problems at the Malta Shipyards.

Mr Editor, you also inaccurately stated that the GWU fails to understand the problems facing the shipyard today. May I assure you that the GWU knows and understands what problems are facing the shipyard and it is more than willing to challenge the productivity and the financial problems.

However, it takes the two sides to tango and for this to be done, both Minister Austin Gatt and the Shipyards’ management have to frankly accept that they are not always right and that they have to listen and desist from playing the ostrich any longer.

Moreover, the union’s Metal and Construction Section has for long been asking for relevant information on the overall expenses and the overheads that are in service at the Shipyards.

But it seems that there is something frightening the management from doing so and therefore it is holding back from divulging such information so much so that the GWU has been kept in the dark notwithstanding the legal right of workers to consultation and information.

The GWU has unequivocally on more than one occasion showed its commitment to help control unnecessary expenses but, likewise, it has stressed that the financial situation of the Shipyards needs to be addressed across the board as a whole, and not in part so that it would not affect just one sector of employees.

If the GWU had to take your editorial advice, it would be surrendering its rights as a trade union and would also be allowing itself to be crushed under the heels of those who still think that might is right and that they can do all that they want and wish because they are mighty.

Charles Vella

Media & Information Executive

General Workers’ Union

Editorial note: The Malta Independent has never suggested that the General Workers’ Union should surrender its rights as a trade union, to the extent that in the editorial referred to by the union, TMID urged the union to take “an active role in the matter” to ensure that the government and the management are doing everything possible to keep the ship from sinking. The union must, however, also play its part in this respect and also deal with that small group of workers who are not doing a full day’s work.

Neither did we say that Dr Austin Gatt has the solution to all the problems at Malta Shipyards. What TMID stated is that Dr Gatt is right to say that unless productivity at Malta Shipyards increases and overheads are cut, “then the shipyard faces a bleak future, especially after 2008 when all subsidies to it will have to stop”.

The union is concerned about wage cuts and the loss of jobs, and TMID never suggested that either would be the best solution. But TMID understands the minister’s preoccupation that, unless productivity improves and the shipyards become profitable, there is a risk that it could happen – although we wrote “that is the last thing the government wants to do”.