Professor Godfrey Baldacchino, Professor of Sociology at the University of Malta, formally presented his research material about Worker Participation and Self-Management at Malta Drydocks (1975-1997) to the Director of Library ¸£ÀûÔÚÏßÃâ·Ñ, Mr. Kevin Ellul, on 3 February 2022.
This unique collection offers an exceptional overview of the social, economic and political dynamics at the Malta Drydocks, then Malta's largest enterprise. Its experience with worker participation and full self-management over two decades was monitored and supported by the Workers' Participation Development Centre (WPDC), set up in 1981 as the first ever centre at UM.
The six pamphlet boxes that contain the collection contain newspaper cuttings, internal memos, reports, handbooks, foreman lists, and various forms of correspondence, relating to Malta Drydocks and its Worker Participation Scheme that was in place between 1975 and 1997. Notable documents include coverage of the Um El Faroud tragedy in 1995, Prof. Baldacchino’s interactions with Malta Drydocks chairman Sammy Meilaq, as well as accounts of the workplace culture at the Drydocks during this turbulent time in its history.
Prof. Baldacchino spent 22 years (1981-2003) working as a Research Assistant, Research Officer and eventually Director of the WPDC (Now, the Centre for Labour Studies). In 1997, he was tasked by the Prime Minister Alfred Sant to draw up an independent report on the state of workers' participation at the Dockyard.
Present for the occasion were Professor Edward Zammit (Former Director, WPDC), Dr Luke Fiorini (current CLS Director), Dr. Manwel Debono (CLS Lecturing Staff) as well as Mr Saviour and Ms Edith Rizzo (both former employees at the WPDC).
