MUT mulling action over ministry's intervention

The council of the Malta Union of Teachers will meet soon to discuss the possibility of industrial action after an agreement it reached with the Institute of Tourism Studies was halted by the Education Ministry.

A conciliatory meeting was held at the office of the Director of Employment and Industrial Relations in an attempt to resolve the MUT's impasse with the ITS. In a statement, the union said that both sides believed that an agreement had been reached.

But the MUT said it had been verbally informed by the Education Ministry that the agreement had been rejected. When contacted yesterday, a spokesman for the ministry said the union wanted to reduce the teaching contact hours from 24 to 22 a week. The ministry sees no justification in such a reduction.

The MUT said: "This unprecedented situation has created serious concern and the MUT Council will be meeting shortly to discuss what action (is) to be taken to protect the interests of its members. A meeting for all ITS academic members of staff will be held shortly," the MUT said.

It thanked the ITS management for its co-operation to hammer out a workable solution, which it said, had been disregarded by higher authorities.