13 - 19 September 2001

Government stops subsidies to Drydocks

by David Kelleher

The government yesterday stopped subsidies to the Malta Drydocks following incidents of violence in the morning by a group of Drydocks workers.
In an address to the nation last night, Prime Minister Dr Eddie Fenech Adami said that following an urgent cabinet meeting, the government had decided to stop all subsidies to the drydocks with immediate effect.
“After all that has happened, I called an urgent cabinet meeting this evening and the government has decided, with immediate effect, to stop all subsidies to the Drydocks,” Dr Fenech Adami said.
Matters came to a head yesterday morning when a group of workers downed their tools in protest over the presence of foreigners holding senior management at the Docks. The workers said they did not want to work under foreigner managers. At present there are three foreign managers, including the chief executive officer at the Docks, Peter Moore.
During the protest they were addressed by GWU section secretary Tony Coleiro who told the workers to return to work.
Instead, the workers went to Dock 6 and broke into the offices of a foreign company to which work had been subcontracted. There they destroyed computers and other equipment.
The Prime Minister said this attitude could no longer be tolerated and all precautions would be taken to ensure that contracted and future work at the ’yard would be protected. He said he had spoken to the GWU and told its officials that the Dockyard could not afford to lose work just because a group of workers did not want foreign managers at the Drydocks.
“At around 12.15pm, I had a meeting with the Drydocks management and they informed me that clients were concerned that work on their vessels would not be comple-ted. In fact, a number of companies that expressed an interest in giving work to the Drydocks have now changed their mind. At 2.15pm I once again had a meeting with the union’s leaders and told them that the government would not accept any hindrance from Drydocks workers that would result in a loss of work and the government would be forced to take a decision,” the Prime Minister said last night.
Therefore, he said, after all that happened, the government has decided with immediate effect to stop all subsidies to the Dockyard.