Garnishee order for €116,000 on GWU lifted

The government has lifted a garnishee order for Lm50,000 (€117,000) imposed on the General Workers Union in 2005 over an industrial action the union had taken, reportedly in return for the handing over of the keys to the GWU’s offices at the Malta Shipyards.

MaltaToday was informed that when Palumbo SPA asked for the keys to the union offices, these were not handed over with the union officials asking for the lifting of the garnishee order as a condition for the transfer of the keys.

When contacted, GWU secretary-general Tony Zarb refused to confirm the allegation. “Ask the authorities… leave us work in peace,” Zarb said.

Efforts to contact the GWU shop steward at Malta Shipyards Sammy Meilaq proved inconclusive as his mobile phone was switched off.

The Ministry of Finance refused to confirm the link, saying the garnishee order was no longer effective due to the fact that Malta Shipyards was in liquidation and that the keys to the union offices had been handed over to Palumbo Spa.

“Keys for the union office have been returned to Malta Shipyards and have now been handed over to Palumbo.  As regards the garnishee, there is no direct relationship with the keys, but once Malta Shipyards is on its route to liquidation the garnishee will be released,” the spokesperson told MaltaToday.

On 31 January 2005, the GWU ordered work-to-rule industrial action to protest against problems it claimed had been dragging on for many months. The GWU objected to the fact that some ship-owners were subcontracting work that it said could easily be done by MSL workers. It also demanded that the government pay arrears to workers on an unplanned night shift.

On 3 February, the MSL obtained a ‘garnishee order’ against the GWU for €116,000 (Lm 50,000), claiming that the latter had violated the shipyards’ collective agreement.

The work-to-rule action was called off after four days on 3 February, as soon as a conciliation meeting between the union and MSL management with the Director of Industrial and Employment Relations was confirmed.

On 14 February, the MSL sued the GWU for damages incurred due to the latter’s work-to-rule directive. MSL demanded that GWU be held responsible for the loss of contracts as a result of the union’s actions. MSL alleged that GWU had breached several clauses of the collective agreement. Among other claims, it accused the union of having made the industrial dispute evident to MSL’s clients, of failing to give 36 hours’ notice before commencing industrial action and of not setting up a conciliatory meeting within 24 hours before issuing the directives.