17 - 23 May 2001

Freeport offers port workers Lm150 per week

by Ivan Brincat

The Malta Freeport is offering port workers currently following a ‘go slow’ directive at the terminal Lm150 per week apart from favourable conditions of overtime and a Sunday allowance.
Informed sources close to the Malta Freeport told The Malta Business Weekly that after a meeting held on Tuesday, the management sent a letter to the GWU informing them it was ready to offer the workers who are truck drivers, who handle twistlocks and lashings at the facility Lm150 per week.
Moreover, they would be given an extra Lm20 as an allowance for working on Sunday and Lm4 per hour for overtime.
Meanwhile a statement issued by the Malta Freeport yesterday said that two vessels which were expected to call at the Freeport between today and tomorrow have decided to cancel their call to Malta.
One vessel has been diverted to Gioia Tauro, the Freeport’s main competitor in the region, while the other vessel has been diverted to the Eygptian port of Damietta, another of Freeport’s competitors.
The Malta Freeport said that the effects of the go-slow action being ordered by the GWU at the Freeport were leaving an impact on clients who are the revenue generators through whom all the employees are paid.
The sources said that in fact, the go slow had turned into a strike since vessels have opted to use other ports.
The Malta Freeport said that due to the delays that were encountered, other vessels are being forced to wait outside the port, until operations on the vessels berthed at the terminals are completed. There are currently two vessels waiting outside the port and this number is expected to increase in the coming hours.
On the other hand, the Ville de Venus, a vessel which was working on Terminal 2 decided to stop all operations and depart from the Freeport, thus leaving behind a number of containers which were supposed to be loaded on the same vessel.
The dispute arose after port workers members of the GWU wanted to dump an agreement over rates signed with the Freeport last year.
On October 10 last year, the Freeport and the GWU reached an agreement over rates for some 400 port workers.
On Monday, the Freeport corporation received a fresh demand this time amount to an annual Lm14,500 per port worker driving trucks or handling twistlocks.