13 - 19 January 2000

Freeport port workers still on strike

by Greta Borg Carbott

Industrial action organised by the Freeport port workers resulted in work on five ships being lost during the strike's first 24 hours, the Freeport said yesterday.

The port workers' strike led to five ships being re-routed to other ports and work on eight ships which were meant to arrive yesterday and today, may be lost if the situation remains as it is, the management said.

According to the Freeport, the port workers went out on strike at 4pm on Tuesday without any union directives. They informed the management about the strike only two hours before.

The port workers decided to strike after the management introduced certain measures to register their attendance as from yesterday. These measures were introduced by the Freeport management for security reasons and also because inspectors had noted that some workers failed to report to work regularly, a Freeport spokesman said.

This problem was discussed during a meeting between the management and the General Worker's Union on 23 December 1999. The port workers' representatives agreed that the workers would show their port identity card when passing through the Freeport Gate as from 12 January.

However, in January, the management did not keep to the original plan, GWU Port and Transport Section secretary Emanuel Micallef said. Instead, the management had gone one step further and installed a computerised system to monitor the attendance of port workers, Mr Micallef said.

In addition, the management had asked security personnel to inform the port workers of the new arrangements the day before these were implemented. This led workers to ask their union representatives for an explanation, the GWU said.

When contacted by The Malta Business Weekly, Mr Micallef described the new computerised procedures as "discriminatory" and "installed without consultation."

During a meeting between Freeport and GWU officials yesterday it was suggested that port workers should show their identity cards in the same facility used by Freeport employees and that particulars could be taken down by hand instead of being inputted in the computer. However, this did not lead to a solution.

"Port workers are not Freeport employees but self-employed third parties," Mr Micallef said. "So why do port workers have to undergo all these procedures instead of simply reporting to their foreman on site?"

Mr Micallef also said the new procedures installed by the Freeport were so different from those originally planned that workers were wondering if they had signed the same agreement.

Some members of the Freeport management may have ulterior motives for imposing these new arrangements on the port workers, Mr Micallef said. The GWU will not hold itself responsible for any losses registered by Freeport.

He said the GWU had now issued directives to the port workers, telling them to continue the strike until the management implements the original plans.