Updated: PN accuses government of abandoning negotiations at MCAST; PL replies
The Nationalist Party on Wednesday condemned and said it deems entirely unacceptable the attitude of the Prime Minister and the Government, who are abandoning negotiations at MCAST at a point when progress was being made.For the Government, the proce
The Nationalist Party on Wednesday condemned and said it deems entirely unacceptable the attitude of the Prime Minister and the Government, who are abandoning negotiations at MCAST at a point when progress was being made.
For the Government, the process of social dialogue and negotiation is only a matter of convenience, and it sees fit to threaten the union negotiating on behalf of its members in line with what the law allows.
While the Government expects the MUT to withdraw its directives on industrial actions, imposed due to the Government's failure to conclude the Collective Agreement after almost three years, it demonstrates that it has given up on finalising this same agreement, the PN said.
It is evident and absolutely clear that the delay is solely the government's fault, and today the situation has escalated into a national crisis because MCAST is not a priority for either Prime Minister Robert Abela or Education Minister Clifton Grima. For the Labour Government, MCAST is a second-class institution, and this is having a significant impact and serious repercussions on MCAST as the second-largest state educational institution in Malta, on lecturers and all grades affected by the expired Collective Agreement, and on students who are being victimised by a Government that has ample funds for its inner circle but not for investment in their education.
On multiple occasions, the PN said it has pointed out that this Collective Agreement should never have been left dragging for so many years. If the Government truly believes in the principles of improving the conditions of lecturers and other grades at MCAST, it should have reached a conclusion in a timely manner.
It should be noted that when the MUT withdrew its directives last February to allow students to continue their educational journey, the Government still failed to finalise the Collective Agreement, dragging it out until the start of the academic year, which began with complications last October. It is an outright falsehood for the Government to claim it is committed to negotiating when it is the Prime Minister's Office's Permanent Secretary, along with the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry for Education, who have ceased negotiations and seemingly lost hope of ever reaching an agreement.
The PN now questioned whether the Government's negotiators are mere puppets of the Prime Minister, who declared over the weekend that there are no funds available for MCAST.
Robert Abela continues to confirm that, while funds are readily available for his inner circle, he is tightening his grip on educators in an unprecedented manner, the PN said.
PL replies
Partisan politics has now taken over completely at the Nationalist Party, and nothing is spared, not even the educational sector, the Labour Party said in a statement in reply. The PN's reaction to the current events at MCAST is a case in point. They are shamefully partisan and populist, the PL said.
Earlier today, the government asked MUT to lift its directives at MCAST, which is causing unnecessary burden and hardship on students. A Labour government has successfully concluded many a sectorial agreement recently, and last week, a public sector collective agreement, the largest by far, was successfully concluded to the benefit of thousands of workers and their families.
In the educational sector, educators benefitted from a collective agreement, which resulted in higher salaries and better work conditions. This contrasts sharply with what happened under PN administrations when teachers' salaries remained unchanged after the expiration of collective agreements. Such is the PN's track record in this sector. They have no credibility, the PL said.
The Labour Party said it looks forward to a long and lasting solution at MCAST, which would be beneficial to educators and students alike.
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