UĦM announce directives for University of Malta staff

The Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin has launched a set of directives towards the administrative, technical and industrial staff at the University of Malta after problems arose during collective agreement negotiations.

As from 5 January, staff members are being told not to use communication devices across the university site. This includes fixed landlines, emails, letters, SMS, Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

Moreover, staff members are being told not to arrange classrooms, take meeting minutes, or scan and photocopy documents.

The union said it is announcing these directives after the university and education ministry dragged their feet on finalising a new collective agreement. The previous agreement expired in December 2021.

“In light of these circumstances, and the fact that this union received no official response, among on which was the resumption of negotiations, the UĦM had no other choice except to order these directives,” a union statement reads.

The directives affect a range of university employees, including: managers, child carers, periti, engineers, scientific officers, handypersons, messengers, dental surgery assistants, library workers, laboratory officers, psychologists, counsellors, social workers, technicians, IT and administration workers, among others.

The full list of directives can be found below:

General

• No communication is to be made by telephone (landline as well as mobile) from the offices and various sites of the University.
• No communication is to be made from the offices and various sites of the University by email, messages (verbal and non-verbal), SMS or letters
• No communication is to be made from the offices and various sites of the University through other means such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or any other platform
• No taking minutes during meetings
• No scanning and photocopying
• No carrying of furniture, electronic equipment, or other items.
• No preparations for events
• No preparation of coffee for meetings
• No arrangement of classes

Health and wellness

• Do not carry out the 8pm shift (this does not affect appointments with clients where the serivce is provided before 8am or after 5pm in agreement with the professional)
• No Teams/Zoom/in-person meetings

Gardeners

• Start doing manual work at 8am (but report to work at the regular time)

Kindergarten/Child Care

• No planning of activities
• Employees cannot give updates to parents from the Facebook page or Illumine
• No answering of phone calls, but calls can be made by employees
• No observation, which is collected for the children’s log book/journal

Dental

• Reduce one clinical session per day
• No x-ray scanning