MUT to hold protest after stalled negotiations on collective agreement from government

The Malta Union of Teachers will hold a protest on Tuesday after government stopped negotiations on expired collective agreement.

“MUT shall be organising a demonstration with MCAST employees in relation to the fact that the government is not willing to continue negotiations on the MCAST Collective Agreement which expired three years ago,” MUT said in a press statement.

The protest will be held outside the Education Ministry on Tuesday 17th December at 9:45am with MCAST lecturers expected to join the protest.

Last Friday, the government slammed the Malta Union of Teacher’s “unacceptable demands” such as a €400 allowance to correct re-sit exams during MCAST lecturers’ collective agreement talks.

“The government cannot accept different conditions for certain educators while leaving others on less favourable terms,” Permanent Secretary within the Office of the Prime Minister Joyce Cassar said during a briefing with journalists on Friday morning.

MCAST lecturers had voiced concerns about the lack of transparency and feedback from the union representing them.

The union and MCAST have been locked in negotiations over a new collective agreement for the past two years and nine months.

The collective agreement involves eight grades and includes lecturing grades, student support services grades, student mentors, and directors, LSEs, technicians’ grades, and senior research officers.

The last collective agreement was signed in 2018 and expired in December 2021.

At the beginning of the current academic year, MUT declared a trade dispute with MCAST. This has led to directives affecting students, causing disruptions to their education and creating a backlog of work that needs to be addressed alongside preparations for the ongoing academic year.