Oral history of the Malta Dockyard: Emanuel Ellul

Entering the dockyard-Reasons for joining 

(00:30) In 1951 he joined the dockyard as an apprentice as a boiler maker. He states that it was his father’s idea to sit for the exams and enter the dock, this is because both his father and his grandfather used to work there so they knew about the work done there.

(01:15) He spent 10 years in total working in the dockyard. six years were as an apprentice until 1957 and then he did four years as a boilermaker, two of which with the Admiralty and the other 2 years with Bailey. In 1958, he together with about 6,000 workers were transferred with Bailey.

(02:00) After 2 years working with Bailey, he felt that his job was not secure, and applied for a scholarship offered by the Colonial Government of that time and went to study in Oxford. The scholarship was for 2 years and he mentions that he did not have a salary but only a small allowance, however Ellul still decided to leave and go for this scholarship. At that time the Maltese had in mind that in case of difficulty in work, they had the option to go to Australia where working there was not a problem.

(03:00) He went to Oxford and spent 2 years studying there. Ellul was an also an activist in the General Workers Union. When he was there, he received a letter from Joe Attard Kingswell, who was the general secretary of the Union at that time, and offered him a 1-year attachment with the British trade union. He accepted and spent 6 months with the Amalgamated Engineering union and another 6 months with the Trade Union Congress.  Then by the year 1964 he came back to Malta.

(03:45) When he came back, Ellul was jobless and he went to find Joe Attard Kingswell and told him about his unemployment situation, and told him that he will emigrate to Australia. However, with this being said, Kingswell offered him a job with them at the General Workers Union to establish a research department. 

(04:30) After some time, a call for applications was issued for a research officer and of course, Ellul applied. He spent four years working there from 1964 until 1968. In 1967 the Union had some issues with the Labour Party and his job and position was threatened. And at the same time new organisations were being established like the Central Bank and the Malta Development Corporation. He applied with both and was chosen to work for the Central Bank as a research officer. He worked there until 1999, and had various different positions.

(06:30) At the Dockyard he lived the transition from the Admiralty to Bailey. In April 1959, on a Friday they received with their salary a letter advising them their future allocation, that is who would be going with Bailey and who would be remaining with the Admiralty. He was transferred with Bailey and his work remained the same, that of a boilermaker and remained in the same shop and with the same chargeman. 

(07:45) He states that commercial work was introduced. However, they still worked on naval ships, as the British Government committed some work from his side during the transition. His position changed when his left the dockyard to study. He mentions that it was difficult and that if he had resigned from the dockyard, he would have definitely returned to th Malta. 

(09:30) His allowance at Oxford was miserable, and he had his wife and daughter living here in Malta with her family. In Summer he used to spend it in Malta. Living at Oxford was very difficult as it was expensive. After 2 years he sat for an exam and obtained a Diploma in politics and economy.

Education-Dockyard school

(10:45) He remembers the Dockyard school, which was a sort of technical school with quite a high education level. However, the system was that every three months they had to sit for examinations and students were eliminated in case of failure or low grades. Ellul, was eliminated in his third year because he did not obtain enough marks to go to a higher level. 

Education-Apprenticeship process

(12:30) He states that the apprenticeship period was well planned and organised. In fact, although his trade was that of a boiler maker, during this time he still spent time with coppersmiths, engine fitters and blacksmiths. This means that he was getting trained in other trades too.  They signed a contract (Indenture) where they were committed not to marry during that time, because the salary was not enough for one to get married.

(13:45) He remembers works, such as the fabrication of the national lottery drum. He also remembers the first time they fabricated a funnel for a tanker. And he states that it was one of the most difficult tasks he was involved in. One different job was, when two Italian cranes were delivered to Malta and their distance between the tracks was shorter than the distance between the existing rails. And the Bailey management decided to modify the structure of the cranes to the existing rails. He was in charge of the modification of the structure of both cranes, and he remembers that the cranes were still working at the Boiler Wharf up to 1980-90s.

Entering the dockyard-Reasons for joining 

(16:15) His father was an engine fitter at the dockyard, and his grandfather was a blacksmith. He remembers his father saying that when the Admiralty did not have enough work, the workers used to stay outside the dockyard gate waiting for them to be called for work. He knows little about his father’s job, apart from knowing he worked on machines.

Trade Union-Strikes 

(17:30) When he left the Dockyard, he still followed what was happening in the Dockyard, especially its effect on the economy. Ellul speaks about one incident, when in the early 70s, there was a strike in the dockyard. At that time, during break time they used to go out for a walk and once he heard a person talking negatively about the dockyard workers. Ellul stopped him and told him to thank the workers because he was not aware of the conditions and difficulties they face during their work. In fact, he states that till present day when he hears that someone used to work at the dockyard, he fully respects that person.

(21:00) When he joined the Dockyard, he was only 14 years and 5 months. He met three friends and during the apprenticeship he used to tell them how was it going to be possible to work there until 60 years of age. 

(22:15) In 1951, there were underground workshops in the Senglea bastions. But then, a new boilershop was built. Ellul chose to work in the shop and not afloat.

(23:15) Eventually he ended up working at the Central Bank for 31 years. He retired as the Governor of the Central Bank. He was one of the first 12 employees of the Bank. The management of the bank were first foreigners but by time it was taken over by the Maltese.

When he retired, he was 62 years old. The Minister John Dalli who was a minister of finance appointed him as a chairman of the privatisation unit. And asked him to use his experience to carry out the privatisation of some companies.