Watch: ‘Three Years Late’ – Teachers’ Union Demands Minister’s Intervention As MCAST Talks Collapse
The Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) has called on Education Minister Clifton Grima to step in and resolve the long-standing deadlock over a new collective agreement for MCAST lecturers, which expired three years ago.
During a protest outside the Education Ministry earlier today, MUT president Marco Bonnici made a direct plea to the minister.
“Minister, you are responsible for MCAST. Your employees want to know that you care about them, even if no one else does.”
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Talks for a new agreement recently collapsed after the government deemed the union’s demands “unacceptable” and insisted that negotiations won’t resume until industrial actions affecting students are lifted.
Lecturers protested with horns blaring and signs reading “Three Years Late” and “Lecturers Deserve Better”.
They were also joined by students, who chanted, “You paid them peanuts, but they continued working!”
Engineering student Ayrton Cassar, who launched petition by MCAST students which has over 900 signatures, said the situation has left them in a desperate state.
Government negotiator Joyce Cassar made headlines last week after publicly outlining the union’s demands and labelled them as “unacceptable”. The MUT hit back, saying demands were taken out of context and stressed the importance of negotiations.
With lecturers demanding fairer wages and conditions and students worried about their education, the ball is now in Minister Grima’s court.
Will he intervene to break the deadlock?
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