The General Workers’ Union delegates within the Shipyards passed a resolution on 3 March unanimously declaring that it was not true that the government did not know why things went downhill at the yards over the past three years.

The truth, they said, was that the GWU invited the government to go and see first hand how the yard was being run, which in their opinion is the wrong way.

In the resolution, the delegates reaffirmed their appreciation and support for an initiative to re-open discussions within the EU on the dockyard issue by “a government of Malta”.

The delegates said that the salvation of the yards can be brought about by better use of capital and labour and that the union will resist all attempts to break up the yards in the future.

GWU section secretary Pawlu Bugeja said that the yard workers knew exactly which political party had their best interests at heart and that no personalised letters from the Prime Minister would change their minds. He said that the government always blamed workers for low productivity in an effort to cover up the fact that it is the way the yard is managed which is causing the problems.