Mcast defends reduced hours for ICT lecturers

The Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology said yesterday that it has in the past favourably considered requests by academic members of staff to work reduced hours, even though no specific provision is included in the new collective agreement signed with the Malta Union of Teachers.

This happens when the request is fully justified and when it is possible for the college to make the alternative arrangements without having a negative impact on the students as regards their course entitlement, the college said.

Mcast was reacting to a declaration of industrial dispute by the Malta Union of Teachers over the college's call for applicants to fill ICT lecturing posts, offering reduced hours.

In a statement on Thursday, the MUT lamented that during negotiations on the collective agreement, Mcast's management had adamantly refused to include a similar reduced-hours provision for lecturers already in employment.

The MUT argued that new working conditions for new ICT recruits would create different conditions of work for employees at the same workplace, blatantly breaching the collective agreement. In a counter-statement yesterday, Mcast said that it had learnt about the industrial dispute from the media.

The MUT, it insisted, was aware of such arrangements with lecturers at the various institutes and had never raised the issue or protested against Mcast's past concessions.

Therefore, it could not understand how it could be accused of "blatantly breaching the recently signed agreement".

Mcast reiterated that requests for reduced hours have always been considered on a case-by-case basis if fully justified and alternative arrangements could be made to satisfy students' requirements.