Educators’ Quest for Transparency and Compensation
Amid escalating frustration, educators remain completely unaware of the MUT’s demands for improved pay and working conditions over two months after the strike. They are also in the dark about the Education Ministry’s proposals as discussions on the sectoral agreement spill into the second month of 2024.
This information was disclosed in an article published on MaltaToday on Sunday, the 4th of February 2024, under the headline: “Frustrated and Angry Teachers: ‘Why Did We Even Strike?’” Educators speaking to MaltaToday express growing impatience due to the lack of communication from their union and the government regarding the ongoing sectoral agreement negotiations.
“We don’t know why we went on strike in November because more than two months later we have no visibility on what the MUT is requesting and what the government is proposing.”
The question was initially raised by the UPE on the 11th of November 2023 in an article titled “Why Have Educators Been Called to Strike on the 27th November?” This article led the MUT to initiate a defamation case against the UPE.
In essence, the MaltaToday article underscores the mounting frustration among educators. A primary school teacher stated, “We don’t know why we went on strike in November because more than two months later we have no visibility on what the MUT is requesting and what the government is proposing.” She further expressed, “Patience is wearing thin; we sacrificed a full day’s pay to strike, and we still don’t have an agreement that guarantees higher take-home pay.”
An LSE voiced frustration at the MUT’s silence and emphasized the importance of educators being able to review and approve any agreement before it is finalized.
“…educators are expecting the government and the MUT to issue retroactive payments…”
After significant delays since the agreement lapsed on the 31st of December 2022, educators are expecting the government and the MUT to issue retroactive payments to the numerous hardworking educators in the education sector, encompassing the duration of the expired agreement.
If no arrears are given to the educators who have been on the state education payroll since the lapse of the agreement a grave injustice would be committed. This would mean that the protraction in concluding a satisfactory deal in the end worked out in favour of government.
Meanwhile a multitude of educators would have been deprived of a well-deserved backdated salary adjustments, including retirees who retired in the interim period between the lapse of the agreement and the conclusion of the new one.
