Teachers’ union blasts ‘mischievous’ St Albert alliance with UPE union

Malta’s two teachers’ unions are at odds over competing loyalties at St Albert the Great College, the Valletta church school that saw an exodus of teachers in protest at the sacking of respected college principal Mario Mallia.

The Malta Union of Teachers, the oldest union on the island, has backed Mallia against the Dominican Order’s rector Fr Aaron Zahra, who runs the school.

Now the MUT is calling out a splinter union, the Union of Professional Educators, after meeting with Zahra and propping up the Dominicans’ leadership of the college.

“How mischievous of a rector inviting UPE, which represents no educator, to spite his employees who are instead represented by the MUT,” MUT president Marco Bonnici said.

“How mischievous it is to have the whole ordeal described as a ‘storm in a teacup’ when the school is on its knees thanks to the rector, the UPE’s friend.”

Bonnici said the surprise alliance between UPE executive head Graham Sansone and Fr Aaron Zahra was no surprise, showing the union was ready to throw educators’ interests under the bus. “How low can one go to stick to this oppressive and axing management style whilst clinging to his seat?” Bonnici said of Zahra.

“UPE was never trusted by anyone, and this alliance with the rector proves that at any time, UPE sides with management to support its ingterests other than those of employees and students.”

On Tuesday, Sansone met with Rector Fr Aaron Zahra and in statement praised the school’s fulfilment of its “aims as an educational institute under the guidance and mission of the Dominican order.”

Sansone said staff members he met at St Albert had voiced concerns over the “negative picture being painted of the College” and said certain entities were attempting to create a sense of frustration and anxiety among educators, students and parents in general.

“Educators at St Albert the Great College want to work in the best interest of the student population under the guidance of the Dominican order, as they have been doing for decades, without the hostile rhetoric coming from specific individuals that do not seem to have the well-being of educators and students at heart,” Sansone said.

Sansone, whose UPE union rivals the Malta Union of Teachers, said Zahra and the Dominican order had offered his union their full support, and that the UPE would “help resolve issues and not create a storm in a teacup as other entities appear to be doing.”

“The UPE is a union that is ready to collaborate with anyone, no matter what issues are at stake, without propagating a hostile atmosphere in the workplace.”