Stalemate between Mcast-MUT persists in spite of meeting with Education Minister

A meeting with Education Minister Evarist Bartolo on Monday did little to improve the stalemate between the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology and the teachers’ union. Talks between the Malta Union of Teachers and Mcast have stalled over discussions on the financial package of a new collective agreement. The agreement for Mcast educators expired in December 2016, but talks resumed later in 2017, after being delayed by the general election and MUT’s own internal election. Monday's meeting revolved around “divergences” between the two parties, a MUT spokesman said, adding that industrial action was still on the table. An industrial directive ordering Mcast staff to refrain from publishing or supplying assignment results or feedback in any form was still in place, the spokesman said. Over 90 per cent of Mcast staff held a two-hour strike last Thursday and Friday after months of back-and-forth negotiations between union and college. MUT had originally ordered a strike at the end of January but Mcast filed a prohibitory injunction barring the action from going through. The court action was later dropped on orders of the Education Ministry. Last week, Mcast and MUT had...