Cap. 171 Art. 2Interpretation.

In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires -

"Act" means the Employment and Industrial Relations Act;

"Authority" means the Authority for Transport in Malta established under the Authority for Transport in Malta Act;

"Board" means the Port Workers Board established under article

10;

"conditions of employment" means wages, the period of employment, the hours of work and leave;

"contractor" has the same meaning as is assigned to it by article 2 of the Authority for Transport in Malta Act; "employer of port workers" means a person so authorized or licensed by the Authority in accordance with the provisions of the Authority for Transport in Malta Act to provide services including the loading, unloading, transshipment, storage and the movement of general cargoes and other materials in a port and includes a terminal operator;

"foreman" means any person who, on his own behalf or on behalf of another person, employs port workers;

"Minister" means the Minister responsible for ports, and includes any person acting under his authority;

"person" includes a body of persons being a partnership, company or society of persons, whether corporate or unincorporate and whether vested with legal personality or not; "port" means a port for the purposes of the Authority for

Transport in Malta Act, and includes a warehouse and any such inland depot and any such other area where goods are handled to form or to dismantle unitised cargo as may be declared by order of the Minister; "port worker" means a person employed in a port in the provision of services of a temporary nature involving the handling of cargo in the process of loading or unloading cargo on or from a ship, from transit shed or stack or open quay to vehicle or in the consolidation, groupage or dismantling of goods in or from a unit load in a port, and "port work" for the purposes of this Act shall be construed accordingly; "prescribed" means prescribed by regulations made under article 17; "the provisions of this Ordinance" includes the provisions of any regulations made under this Ordinance; "Service Level Agreement" means an agreement concluded between port workers and employers of port workers in connection with the provision of services by port workers;

"unit load" or "unitised cargo" means -

(a) a quantity of cargo unitised to form a single load in or on -

(i) roll on/roll off units which may be on wheels integral to the transport unit or which may be towed or pushed or otherwise moved by other mechanical equipment;

(ii) vehicles or trailers rolled on or off a ship;

(iii) Lancashire flats, that is, platforms, with or without ends, on which the goods are stacked;

(iv) freight containers being articles of equipment having an overall volume of not less than 8 cubic metres either rigid or collapsible, suitable for repeated use in the carriage of goods in bulk or package form and capable of transfer to or from one or more forms of transport;

(b) liquid in bulk in containers with a minimum capacity of 2273 litres integrated in vehicles to form bowsers;

(c) vehicles and empty trailers of all kinds rolled on or off a ship;

(d) any other goods on wheels rolled on or off a ship;

(e) cargo on expendable or returnable pallets, provided such cargo is handled between ship and shore or vice-versa entirely by mechanical means through points of access to or from a ship other than conventional hatchways;

(f) empty containers;

(g) empty road transport vehicles and bowsers rolled off a ship to load cargo for eventual shipment as unitised cargo or rolled on a ship after having brought into Malta unitised cargo by means of the roll on/roll off method;

(h) seacraft or floating objects which are loaded on or

(i) unit loads of any description handled between ship and shore or vice-versa by conventional means, other than containers lifted on or off a ship; or

(ii) heavy indivisible loads, except when carried on a vehicle or trailer which is rolled on or off a ship;

"warehouse" means a warehouse as defined in article 2 of the Authority for Transport in Malta Act.