Employers are calling on the government and MUT to suspend negotiations until after the elections

The Malta Employers’ Association has called for collective bargaining for teachers to be suspended until after the elections.

The statement came after a public row between Education Minister Clifton Grima and the Malta Union Teachers. On Friday, the minister claimed that the government was offering a €10,000 increase, but forgot to spell out the conditions under which such an increase would be granted.

The MUT rejected the claims and revealed that the minister’s claims about a €10,000 increase and a starting salary of €36,000 for new teachers were not taken into account in the government’s financial proposals to the union. Extracts of the government’s latest proposals have been published on MUT’s website. The extracts show no evidence of these claimed increases.

“It is not true that the government is offering teachers a salary increase of 10,000 euros” – Bonnici

On Friday, MUT gave the government an ultimatum.

A day later, the MEA called on the government and the MUT to suspend negotiations on a revised collective bargaining agreement in the education sector until after the elections.

In her statement, she stressed that the MEA has maintained for years that collective bargaining in the public sector should never take place closer than three months to an election.

“The governing party will have a much weaker negotiating position in the election campaign. It is also possible that the result will be used for election propaganda. The collective bargaining agreement for the education sector is very sensitive as it not only represents an essential service but also has serious implications for private sector educational institutions where there are thousands of students. It may also impact relationships with other professions in the public sector and lead to further unrest in the industry,” the MEA said.

The association emphasized that there is general consensus that educators deserve fair compensation for the important services they provide.

“But it would be in the interest of both sides of the table to conduct the negotiations with a cool head and the period during an election campaign is definitely not an ideal setting for the union and the government to reach a fair solution,” MEA said.

“Collective bargaining should not be used as a weapon by the unions or the government as it could have a long-term destabilizing effect on the labor market,” the MEA warned.