UHM terms GWU’s actions illegal

In a statement issued in response to the General Worker’s Union’s (GWU) industrial actions at the Freeport, Unjoni Haddiema Maltin (UHM) said that illegality should never be rewarded, wherever it comes from.

“The industrial action ordered by GWU at the Freeport was illegal. It broke a collective agreement and it could have endangered Freeport workers,” UHM added.

UHM accused GWU of taking matters into its own hands and using these illegal industrial actions to dictate when and how verifications should take place and by who they should be carried out.

“We forbid anyone to take matters into their own hands and decide who should carry out these said verifications,” the statement reads.

“We firmly believe that UHM is still the recognized union and that until this is the case, it reserves the right to be informed and consulted about anything that is happening,” it continued.

“The events unfolding at the Freeport are not only illegal but they break every practice and ethic and go against the spirit of discussions taking place in the President’s Forum,” UHM said.

UHM stressed that the in other circumstances where similar issues were concerned, the GWU had taken a very different line of action.

The UHM has said that it continues to enjoy the support of the majority of the Freeport workers and it doesn’t see why there should be any disruptions in its industrial relations simply because another union desires.