Go to hell, Sammy Meilaq and Tony Zarb
If there are two people who have truly outstayed their welcome and their relevance in Maltese politics, it’s Sammy Meilaq tax-xipjard and Tony Zarb tal-unjin.
Not content to let a summer go by without some agitation and the vain promise to provoke an uprising, Zarb and his red friend Meilaq have been out and about doing some screaming and shouting, with lots of raised fists for good measure – you know, just in case the red T-shirt and ugly scowl didn’t give us the message.
It’s a shame that Zarb is let down by his lisp, his childish voice and his wobbling Maltova-baby jowls, which make it kind of difficult for him to look and sound suitably menacing. Meilaq, a scion of Arthur Scargill and straight out of early 1970s strike-plagued Britain, has no such problem. He’s an ugly bastard with an even uglier voice, though for all I know he loves animals and kiddies and bakes fairy-cakes in his spare time.
Now Zarb has said that if the government doesn’t “invite” his union for more chats about the shipyards, it’s going to wind up with thousands of angry “workers” behind the door to the Auberge de Castille. Well, that’s as close as they’re going to get to the sea of red in Castile Place that Fred and Jason promised them they’d see this year. Any consolation prize will do at this stage.
Fred took a break from feeding his chickens and reading Goethe in German to pop over and listen to his mates Tony and Sammy. I assume that sort of thing gives him a much-needed boost of adrenalin. It’s hard to go back to testing your theories on Hetty the Hen and Chalie the Cockerel after 16 years of addressing gatherings of 50,000 hysterical people chanting Viva l-Lejber, while your wig wafts about dramatically in the wind and Narcy Calamatta sits behind you in a red scarf.
Zarb says that he doesn’t want to disrupt the privatisation of the shipyards or the early retirement schemes being offered to those who work there. So what’s his beef? He wants the government to guarantee employment in the public service for those who don’t want to take up early retirement. Can you believe it? Of course you can. Not content with draining MANY HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF MALTESE LIRI from the taxpayer’s pocket over the last three decades – the shipyard hasn’t turned a profit in all that time – jellybaby Zarb now wants the taxpayer to keep these people on the payroll.
What he’s really worried about, I would imagine, is that with the shipyard privatised and the vast majority of GWU members there dispersed, his union’s clout and power will be dissipated. And three cheers for that. For as long as I can remember, the General Workers Union has thrown its weight around mainly on the basis of its shipyard members, who habitually emerged from around their tea-kettles for the occasional bit of strategic wrecking in Floriana and Valletta, or to tow clients’ vessels across the mouth of Grand Harbour to bar entry to Royal Navy warships.
Some days ago, Zarb instructed shipyard employees not to take up early retirement unless the government gives in and guarantees their jobs, which is a prize bit of confused thinking. Why bother with early retirement if the government is going to give you job security until you’re 61, in the kind of job that allows you to skive anyway?
Zarb is particularly annoyed because the international call for offers to buy the shipyard does not stipulate that the buyer will have to retain the workforce. He calls it “illegal”. He’s not very bright, because he should know by now that a clause insisting on the retention of employees cannot be enforced. Once you buy a business, it’s yours, and you can do with it what you please, within the limits of the law. The law no longer forces you to keep paying employees who are redundant or useless, though it did so in the grand old days of Labour government.
Alfred Sant wasn’t the only former Labour leader who went to listen to Zarb and Meilaq and lend support with his symbolic presence. Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici was there, too, watching his aristocracy of the workers in action once more. Oh, how nostalgic he must have felt. And so was the present party leader, Joseph Muscat, who might have been scouting the talent for the role of party SEE-EE-OH. Pardon my French, but he looked like a prize OH-EX-EX.
Anglu Farrugia and Toni Abela, those other elements that help make up the many-headed Hydra of Labour leadership, were in the crowd, looking very much at home, as you might guess – though Anglu could have done with his Indian friend the elephant to raise him above the seething mass of sweaty proles. After all, he’s important now. Oh, and our buddy Manwel Cuschieri was spotted hanging around, looking for all the world like that old cartoon of Frankenstein’s monster. All he needs is screws above his ears and some large cartoon stitches on his cheek. He’s already got the face and the personality.
After Mister Maltova wound up and shut up, Sammy Meilaq took the microphone. He threatened the prime minister: “Nisfrundawk!” Ar’hemm, hej. I don’t think this man realises just how out of date he is, and how sick and tired we all are of watching hundreds of millions in taxes being poured into the utterly useless shipyard, instead of being channelled into roads, schools and healthcare. Think of all the Herceptin for cancer patients that money could have bought. Even Labour supporters are fed up, because it’s their money and their country, too. If ever there was a common cause, it’s this one. We would all like to see more money spent on the infrastructure, on health, and we are furious that we are going short so that a bunch of wasters can be kept in a job for life.
So what was the new, modern Joseph Muscat doing there, listening to horrible Sammy Meilaq and ghastly Tony Zarb? Maybe I shouldn’t be asking, given that he is the national expert on running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. At least he wasn’t wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt. That would have been one step too far.
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Dear Daphne, do you know that you are annoying people with your writings. Do you call yourself a journalist, cause if you call yourself a journalist, i dont where this country is going.
[Daphne – Honey, people like you annoy people like me, but I don’t demand that you’re all corralled and shot.]
There’s only one phrase in Italian that can describe yesterday’s meeting: Il Canto Del Cigno.
[Moderator – There’s an English word with the exact same meaning: swansong. For the benefit of the John Meilaqs here, it means one’s final act or speech before death or retirement. It was believed that dying swans sang one last melodramatic song. Now we should expect Mr Meilaq to get back in with a remark to the effect that swansong has roughly the same meaning as swanning around, and why quibble?]
SPOT ON, METHAPHORS INCLUDED.Who do they think they are? What else do they want? Withhold their pay and close the whole sorry mess and be damned, Mr Mejlaq b’sidrek ahmar miftuh ghal glied. Come on, we dont fear your ilk anymore. You are gone, you are history, you are nothing, nada, niente, in the greater scheme of things. T quote a good friend. The MLP, namely Dr. Call Me Joe Muscat, shouldnt even have appeared if they were serious. But they are hapless, clutching straws here and there, with no strategy to speak of. They remind me of the negro cadet Hookes in Police academy, trying to direct traffic and failing miserably. but maybe He loves them too much to get rid of them. U halluna bi kwietna ngawdu naqra s-sajf. Take what’s offered, my friends, its very generous, and go find a proper job for a change.
If the Transport Federation can get away with it why not the dockyard workers? If eleven individuals can get 230,000 euros AFTER paralyzing the island for four days why not the dockyard workers?
Who’s gonna stop them? The cops AFTER THEY GET A HOT MEAL AND SOME WATER?
The AFM whose member ran away from the mob?
Threats worked before, they will work again UNLESS the Minister of Justice starts charging these idiots with incitement AND jail them if found guilty and fine the union and the individuals.
Why have they ruled out the possibility that they’re good enough for re employment under new management?
Just a note to Johann: DCG is a columnist not a journalist. I don’t blame you for not knowing the difference, given that the news media that you must adulate don’t know the difference themselves. Let me spell it out: journalists report facts while columnists write opinions.
Do you see the difference?
[Daphne – Thanks for coming to my defence, Andrew, but Johann is both wrong and right. Anyone who writes for the newspapers, in whatever capacity, is a journalist. A columnist is a journalist. The confusion here is between ‘journalist’ and ‘reporter’. All reporters are journalists, but not all journalists are reporters. The person who writes film reviews is a journalist. So is the one who writes Christian Outlook.]
@Daphne
I’m sorry but I just can’t get myself to call Lino Cassar a journalist! Yeuch!
Just a suggestion , we remember when the GWU ruled the Harbour ,can’t they put their offer and guarantee themselves the workers job. No one is guaranteeing my job so why should I and many others like me , guarantee jobs in an industry which was a bottomless pit for the exchequer.
@ Daphne : there is no need to call people names to drive home your valid arguments , ikkalma!
[Daphne – Calling people names is all part of the fun.]
Daphne, you don’t annoy us at all….maybe you just annoy a bunch of ignorants who still want to hear some stupid GWU speakers saying ‘nisfrundawk’ and ‘ha mmorru fit-toroq’.I don’t always like your writings (I totally agree with the one of today) but at least in Malta we have a woman who really speaks and writes what she thinks without hiding behind anything or anyone. Obviously those who want to continue being spoon fed by Toni ta’ l-Unjin or Sammy tax-Xipjard will never understand what does it mean not being spoonfed…Daphne you are not a journalist!!! ha ha!!! Who are the journalists?? those who go to follow joseph tat-terremoti or sammy tax-xipjard and repeat word by word what has been said without having the sense to evaluate and criticise them?? Who are the journalists those who publish photos of a girl holding a sign ‘Id-daddy xoghol irid’??? if your daddy wants to work send him to find a job without being paid by myself and other honest citizens for not doing anything except going in streets to liste to toninu and sammy tax-xatt….
Isn’t it about time the GWU drags itself into the 21st century? Tony Zarb and his bunch of misfits, should by now realise that no government in a free democratic state, owes anybody a job for life; least of all shipyard and dock workers who have been sponging millions from the national coffers to the tune of hundreds of millions of euros, with negative return. I thought Zarb had learnt a lesson from his disastrous mishandling of the Sea Malta issue, and earlier Phoenicia Hotel one. He should remove his red-tinted glasses and realise that there is no way his precious ‘workers’ will be allowed to take the country to ransom. And, by the way, if he believes that he is going to prove anything that we don’t already know, by orgnanising rowdy marches in the streets, then he really is out of synch with the popular feeling, and maybe it’s time he moved on. And, if your workers are so much at heart, maybe you should be handing out free sun-block to them.
Why wasn’t this post categorised under “Stejjer tal-Wahx”? I think it has all the qualifying features!
[Moderator – Because the usual moderator is off gallivanting in Amsterdam, and the present, temporary, moderator is holding the fort with basic services.]
BTW ,did Alfred Sant applaud for Sammy Meilak’s speech?
Wasn’t it under Sant’s MLP that the worker director was shown the door? Was it the 10th February 1997 when “id-direttor haddiem” and his council were disbanded? Now I understand when someone wrote that in the MLP “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” policy reigns.
Running with the hares and hunting with the hounds indeed.
[Moderator – He must have been there for a little light distraction from endless discussions about Maltese literature with Frrrrannnnssss Sammut. Unlike the rest of us, he can’t exactly spend the holiday on the beach, what with that wig and everything.]
I thought that the ‘science’ of physiognomy (wikipeadia: a theory based upon the idea that the assessment of the person’s outer appearance, primarily the face, may give insights into one’s character or personality) was out of favour since Chaucer’s time. I don’t know Tony Z at all but I do have recollections of Sammy M and he is a gentle giant of a man, once you take the microphone away from his hand. Apart from the personal put downs which I do not like at all, the rest of the article is quite unreproachable. Let’s discuss ideas and not persons.
NB – using physiognomy, DCG looks like a sweet girl but…there you go…:)
So they are expecting 50K Liri Maltin for every employee. This works out at 200 million Euro. If the Republic can afford this sort of money Good Luck. As long as the Government commits itself to offer this sum to anyone on these Islands who loses his job, it is fine with me. I, for one, will do all I can to lose my job forthwith.
On a more serious note, as I have said on this blog before, the conclusion of this farce will depend on whether the Police Commisioner and the Home Affairs Minister are fit for purpose. Their record during the public transport workers’ strike was dismal and does not augur well for the future.
Point taken, DCG, but does that mean I am a journalist? It doesn’t quite feel right … which I write knowing full well that some wise guy will jump right in and agree with me!
[Moderator – I suppose it all depends on how much of it you do, and how much it contributes to your income. You definitely do journalism work. I suppose you can call yourself a lawyer who does some journalism.]
Tony and Sammy do sound ridiculous in 2008, no doubt about that. No beef with privatisation but they want all the employees to be guaranteed work with the civil service – and we do not find that request too unbelievable (I before E, you see). The problem we conveniently ignore is that these crass demands are encouraged by the style of politics in the country. Were it not for EU demands and strictures we might not even be attempting to solve this mess – just like the Spring Hunting, Maghtab and other big issues the MLPN conveniently ignored for decades.
What do Sammy and Tony think asking for such guarantees? Erm I do not know but judging by what the hearse owners wiggled out of the government purse they might not be completely obtuse at this point – realistically speaking.
It’s why wasted votes would not be so wasted after all. The more pressure there is that a voter switches preference, the more parties will be locked into action. But then this talk is good between one election and another… come election time we are content with our fictions of majority rule and electoral disenfranchisement. Might as well be queuing with the red crowd outside Castille at that point… if you can’t beat them…
P.S. Much as I prefer Bocca’s description of columnist v. journalist I am afraid Daphne is right with the nit-picking nomenclature :)
this farce is fast becoming a textbook example of how NOT to privatize public assets –
‘(the Ministry of Finance) said that unless interest was shown by potential investors by September 15, it would have no option but to declare failure in the privatisation process and the yard would have to be declared bankrupt.’ Times 14 Aug
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080814/local/government-sets-september-15-deadline-for-privatisation-success/
What a great way to sell public assets – ‘forget what I was saying about Malta Shipyards before the election – please, please will anyone buy this total wreck? anyway if no one’s interested I’m giving it away for free!!’
Who on earth will agree to buy the yards now when chances are they will be up for a pittance in a few weeks time??
Only in Smart Island!
As a 42 year old, I sometimes really miss the 80s -UP TO A CERTAIN POINT. The right word is nostalgia. And this comes around whenever we hear people like Froggy and his ally ( one who helps himself really well when attending buffets ! ) claiming that they can flex their muscels and think that the Nation will go into hiding.
Well they are very mistaken and their ways are now out of date. We are living at a time when the police force is an impartial authority and everyone knows that. And was Froggy trying to send a hint to anyone at Paola when he mentioned the Police and the Army. Government should know that in this he has the backing of the wholw nation not only the PN. The MLP, by its presence in Paola, has given the issue a political slant – this shows that Goatie is much of same as AS.It is the whole of Malta who pumped MILLIONS into the drydocks workers’ pockets over the years. The only solution they want is to keep on sucking up at Malta’s coffers, taking part in the occasional spontaneous demonstration – most probably there’ll be one soon – and the list can go on and on. But the time is now up and Malta needs to stand up to these bunch of bummmmmers and NOW is the time. Never mind the heat and mid summer – this is the time when Froggy and Mercieca like to stir up the last diehards and we will take them on IF NEED BE.
To PM Gonzi : keep up with the good work. Last March the elections proved you right.
Sammy should remember the days when he was Council Chairman when he depended on the votes of his colleagues to remain in office. When he blamed the management when things went wrong and remained toothless and voiceless together with his GWU buddies when his soul-mate Dom Mintoff accused all Dockyard employees (including me) of being without “meat balls” (I believe his actual words were “minghajr bocci tal-laham), stopped overtime, froze wages and reduced salaries. And the workers cheered and clapped in Gavina Gulia Square outside the dockyard gates. And those who booed were beaten up. Sammy remained at Mintoff’s side and the GWU were nowhere to be seen defending the workers.
That was the time to defend the workers not now.
Prosit Daphne, 100% spot on.
The dockyard workers have had it good for a long time. Most of us are tired of paying through our noses to keep them at the yard without the aristocracy of the workers doing their bit to make the yard viable. The GWU was and is still any good only when the “nasty” nats are in government. With “good” labour they are reduced to lambs – and sleeping ones at that even when Sant did away with the worker director. The GWU must have been anaesthetized when Mr. Mintoff did away with quite a number of holidays-without compensation- and other worker friendly measures.
I hope that the PM and Police commissioner have taken note of what TZ and SM are threatening and take appropriate action. (Taking a leaf out of Com. De Gray’s book is recommended) We don’t want to see the Transport fracas happen again. I’m sure that any worker worth his salt, will find a job – with Smart City in the offing job opportunities won’t be lacking.
I once remember Sammy Meilaq baring his chest and shouting expletives (Haq al…..) at Labour supporters on their way to a mass meeting while he was adressing a rally of the now defunct ‘Front Maltin Inqumu’. Although the dockyard issue is indeed a sad story for the 1000 or so workers who will lose their jobs, aligning themselves with such figures will bring nothing against the slick government machine.
Daphne once again you proved that you do not know how to write without calling names.
Can you stop this nonsence please?
By the way,not only Labour Party officials went to GWU rally in support of the dockyard workers but also officials of Alternattiva Demokratika.
[Daphne – Well, hasn’t it been MLPAD for the last couple of years? Nothing new there in terms of political opportunism. At least Arnold Cassola has shed his ‘gone fishing’ look since he became party leader. I must say I’d love to have been there just to watch the supercilious AD officials squirm with embarrassment at their predicament: forced to goggle at Zarb and Meilaq in admiration and agreement in the hope of scoring an actual MLPAD coalition come 2013. And as for the name-calling – honey, it’s just so much fun.]
According to EU Law workers who lose their jobs because of cutbacks or closures are entitled to severance pay based upon their years of service.
As anybody with a little brain can tell these two are just trying to intimidate the government…. it happened before and it will happen again….until the government starts fining these idiots and throwing them in jail for incitement.
Remember the last time it happened it resulted in a windfall of 230,000 for the offenders.
Should the government guarantee the jobs of Malta Shipyard workers after privatisation? In my opinion, yes. What happened when the POSTA LTD, HSBC and other govt/parastatal entities were privatised? They were given the early retirement option, others were kept on or given a job with the govt (in the case of the Posta Ltd). So why not these workers?
Let us take a case in point. All the workers go for early retirement. Whoever will buy the Dockyard, will have to recruit some of the same workers, who also took a large sum of money because they choose the retirement scheme. Is this wise? Are we willing to throw away millions of Euros just like that??
I think that it would be wiser if, whoever is to buy the shipyard, first chooses whoever he sees fit to continue to work there (by qualifications, expertise, etc); the others are then offered the option for early retirement or a job with the govt.
PS Just a little thought. When the MLP lost the election everybody blamed Alfred Sant because he was not a good leader. How come now, in the case of the MDD nobody is blaming the management, but the workers are taking all the blame???? Is this a case of two ways two measures??
It gets clearer and clearer why the PN are in government once again. It does you no good Gowzef to align yourself with such savages. But then it’s never been said that you have a strong sense of judgement… ghidli ma’ min taghmilha u nghidlek x’int goes the Maltese adage.
Dear Daphne
I have to take off my hat to you….what a wonderful gift you do possess. You say exactly what everyone else wants to say………apart from Johann,and Neville that is. You are truly a gifted writer. Plesae keep on writing.
Thank You
Maria
Our dear Joseph did look like a prize O – EX – EX didn’t he? In fact he looked like a brace of O – EX – EX IJIIET if that’s the plural! Why on earth did he go there? Does he want to marry the dear GWU again? Does he really want to gather the lost flock or not? If he doesn’t pay attention he will end up like the other darling – Zarb – in a few years’ time. His tummy looks as if it is on the way to becoming a barrel!!! Hahahahahahaha
[Moderator – That’s because he’s expecting Joe Debono Grech’s baby, to be baptised Lunar Eclipse.]
D Fenech: The public service is inefficient because it is run as a social service rather than as a public service. “Giving” people jobs is no such thing. What you’re talking about is adding people to a payroll that is already inefficiently overburdened and not necessarily productive. What you’re really talking about is guaranteeing an income for people laid off from the Drydocks. Isn’t that the purpose served by severance pay?
D Fenech: Here’s another point. If it’s a waste of money to offer severance pay, why isn’t it a waste of money to ‘guarantee employment’. “Choosing workers”, as you put it, is not cost free. Why would or should anyone want to invest time, money and expertise to cut costs for the Drydocks’ current owner?
I agree with most of Daphne’s article, but one thing that I cannot understand is why just before the election, our ever so handsome (at least on the billboards) Prime Minister wrote to each and every yard worker promising them a secure job with a bright future.
Dear Mr. John Schembri
Can you please stop posting stupid comments on the net
@ WHOEVERYOUARE: It’s a free country Brian , and it is 2008 not 1984 !
That’s why i am telling you cause it is not 1984. We all agree with Daphne :)
Running with the hares and hunting with the hounds indeed.????
@ Brian Axisa : I cannot understand your innuendoes. What are you trying to say?
Daphne even out here Down Under you are very well known as none other than a Zionist Terrorist Apartheid Scum !! So there goes your Credibility!!!!
Most probably Moderation should be assessed about the rubbish Daphne writes before it is published!!!i