MUT to step up directives as dispute with MCAST persists

Lecturers at the Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) held a protest outside the administration building of the college in Paola as negotiations on their collective agreement stalled.

The protest was called by the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) last week, where they appealed to the college to review its position on the union’s demands.

The new collective agreement which  includes Lecturing grades, Student Support Services grades, Student Mentors, Directors, Deputy Directors, Technicians grades, Learning Support Educators, and Senior Research Officers, has been in the works for the past two years and nine months.

During the protest, held outside the MCAST administration building, educators held up posters and placards with messages such as ‘MCAST Hates Its Own Educators’, ‘MCAST: Poor Management Through Tyranny’, and ‘Stop Stalling, Start Acting’.

Ahead of the protest, MCAST cancelled the opening ceremony of the new academic year, which MUT viewed as a consequence of their protest.

MUT President Marco Bonnici criticised MCAST’s decision, stating, “Surely the opening ceremony would not look good with a protest outside the administration doors. It doesn’t go that the attention falls on the union’s protest and not on them!”

The union said negotiations with MCAST deteriorated, leading the union to declare a trade dispute and issue a fresh set of industrial action directives. The new directives will come into force next week.

“The newly appointed principal of the college is the only principal which the MUT expressed distrust in in his first month on the job,” said Bonnici, adding that, “this principal has been involved with MCAST for 20 years, yet has failed to negotiate with the MUT, as well as attend any negotiation meetings with the union and government."

In September, former MCAST deputy principal Stephen Vella was appointed as Principal and CEO, following the resignation of former CEO Prof. James Calleja.

"This shows what a grave situation this is; the new leadership at MCAST only cares about appearances," Bonnici said, referring to the emails sent from the principal to the union where he threatened to sue the union if they didn’t agree with arbitration.

Bonnici challenged the Principal to proceed with legal action and said the MUT will not negotiate with him, but rather directly with government. He stated that the MUT did everything that was asked for, including issuing a finalised document of proposals for the new collective agreement.

“It is so unusual that the last academic year ended with union directives and a new one opening with fresh directives,” Bonnici said.