No love lost between contenders for teachers’ union top job

The race for the top post at the Malta Union of Teachers is heating up, and with only three weeks to go to the ballot, MaltaToday has learned there is no love lost between the two top contenders who were involved in a heated argument. 

MUT president Kevin Bonello, at the helm since 2011, announced at the end of February that he would not be seeking re-election for a third term due to health reasons.

The union’s senior vice-president, Marco Bonnici, and the general secretary Franklin Barbara, immediately announced their intention to contest the election slated for the beginning of April.

Barbara has been general secretary since 2007.

But tensions are already beginning to rise, it would seem.

MaltaToday has learned that Bonnici and Barbara had a very heated argument during a meeting last week, which included a lot of shouting, name-calling, cussing and posturing.

Barbara felt so threatened by Bonnici’s actions and verbal abuse that he even filed a police report against the union’s senior vice-president at the Hamrun police station at the end of the week, union sources have revealed.

The animosity between the two candidates seems to have been further accentuated by the outgoing president’s apparent endorsement of Bonnici.

When he launched his candidature last week, Bonnici held a press conference in Floriana, during which he was flanked by a number of MUT council members who were openly supporting him. 

MaltaToday has also learned that union officials are trying to sidetrack the candidature, and that he has already received a formal letter of protest claiming his running in the election conflicts with the MUT’s statute.

The eligibility issue, including the altercation between the two candidates, the police report and the perceived interference by Bonello were supposed to be discussed at a council meeting on Monday.

When contacted, Barbara would not comment on what had happened, saying he was “neither confirming nor denying” the information obtained by this newspaper.

Attempts to contact Bonnici and Bonello proved futile by the time we went to print.

The result of the election is not expected to be known before the end of May because of the complex electoral system which also allows members to cast their vote by mail.