Wednesday, 1st October 2008 - 13:12CET

Unions offer compromise in lecturers' pay dispute

The trade unions representing university lecturers have written to the Ministry of Finance offering a compromise solution to the current pay dispute.

John Bencini, general secretary of the Malta Union of Teachers, said the letter was sent this morning and a reply was still being awaited.

The ministry yesterday said it was not prepared to improve its offer and gave the unions up to noon today to accept the package.

Mr Bencini said the ministry's statement was shameful. Slamming the door in the face of the trade unions would not get either side anywhere, he said. Such an attitude was harmful to the university and the students.

He said that in their proposals, the MUT and the UMASA, the academic staff association, were trying to meet the government half way.

Mr Bencini said the government statement issued yesterday afternoon was deceiving and had sought to paint university lecturers as being greedy. The government had claimed that the wage increases which the unions had demanded would cost €140 million, but that, he said, was gross pay, including 35% tax. Performance bonuses were also included automatically, he said.

The MUT Council will be meeting this evening to discuss the way forward.

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Comments

JOANNA MIFSUD (on 3/10/08)

I find it very unfair that those who can really take strike actions do so and they are heard, meetings organised and a compromise or an agreement is eventually reached, but what about those who CANNOT take strike actions and are utterly mistreated, discriminated, used and abused and are very unhappy and demotivated on their working place???.... like our POLICE OFFICERS and the others in public service??? Who is taking care of these people??? IS SOMEONE TAKING IN CONSIDERATION WHAT RISKS THESE PEOPLE TAKE EVERY SECOND OF EVERY HOUR OF EVERY DAY?? Who is regularly meeting these people to ask them how they feel and what they really want??? Do they have also the right to vent out their concerns? Do they have the right to ask for a better pay and working conditions and environment???? PLS CAN THE ONES RESPONSIBLE SHOW SOME HUMAN CONCERN AND...... ACT!!

Sharon Formosa (on 3/10/08)

@John Borg and @Keith Davis
In my opinion this issue about lecturers has nothing to do with students stipends. I dont agree that there should be student loans since not all students find a job which yeilds 30000euros a year when they graduate. We cannot put everybody in the same hem! In the US its another story..We should focus on our country and stop comparing ourselves to others!

Marvin Bugeja (on 2/10/08)

@John Borg and others: DO NOT GENERALIZE ! Please. It is not the honest employee's fault if the employer is too lazy himself to see that each and every one of his employees is doing his job! ONLY an irresponsible and unaccountable employer would punish ALL his employees just in case there are a few which are corrupt. Is this your modern politics! BOMB the house to the kill the mouse? Come on. Look at other, more advanced countries, and you understand. Look at England, France, Italy, Greece and even Cyprus! How are academics (which are not ONLY lecturers) paid in these countries. Do you want to be EUROPEAN or what ?

anna marie micallef (on 1/10/08)

just to ask whether we have lectures tomorrow or not?

John Borg (on 1/10/08)

I think it's a good suggestion to replace student stipends with student loans issued by and payable to the state along the lines of federal student loans in the U.S.

S. Chet (on 1/10/08)

on a side note: does anyone have any idea if we will be having lectures this week or not??

R. Briffa (on 1/10/08)

@ A Brincat:
What about the disrespect that students show towards their lecturers?

Keith Davis (on 1/10/08)

No one is saying to go for abolishing stipends but if these people succeed and in the end earn salaries like Eur 30,000 a year then may it come for them to repay their stipends back for other students to benefit !

Graham Crocker (on 1/10/08)

@Charles Camilleri:
Taking away the stipends is highly unethical, because my parents (as have others) have paid for student stipends for years through their taxes and I have a right to enjoy the benefits.

After all nobody wouldn't like it if the Government decided to suspend everybodies pensions to pay for the Dock-yard-worker-pension schemes.

Marija Attard (on 1/10/08)

@ Alan Mifsud
@ Keith Borg

I fully agree with your arguments.

Being qualified to teach at UOM takes more than just a degree...it takes years of your life of studying. Keep in mind that most lectures would have postponed a real job to pursue their studies, sometimes even taking loans to keep on doing their Phd abroad or in Malta. So once they finish their studies it should be expected that they make up for the ''lost time''.

Besides, why should an academic career pay less than industry? If someone has the VOCATION to teach s/he should be decently paid!!

Someone should actually say what the pay of lecturers is...as it seems that no one really knows how ridiculous low it really is!! It is unbelievable!!

L Aquilina (on 1/10/08)

I eat my words.. but hang on.. where does the old adage 'if you can, do; if you can't, teach' come from then??

N. Grima (on 1/10/08)

I agree with M. Buhagiar. Low wages is not the solution to the problem of lecturers who do not do their work well - "you get what you pay for". Get rid of the non-performing ones and give their pay to the lecturers who truely dedicate themselves to the job. Although things are not as rosy as Ms Pace or Mr Borg claim, the vast majority of lecturers earn their pay and much beyond. In a number of fields, professionals much less qualified and experienced than the lecturers get annual pay rises of over €5000 each year, excluding performance bonuses. Obviously, the university is not part of the commercial marketplace and thus does not have the profits to distribute - however, this only indicates that the university needs (1) more funding [just look at the difference in investments in MCAST and the University]; (2) a wider collaboration with the marketplace through sponsored programmes and courses [as is widely done in foreign universities]; and maybe (3) a restructuring of the university's practices and policies as to lecturer recruitment and performance appraisal.

Keith Borg (on 1/10/08)

@ Mark Galea

Perfectly said. Certain people just cannot fathom that though. It's like the Euro83.86 we get (regular stipend) is something exorbitant to them. Whilst in reality we barely manage to cope. (We certainly appreciate the fact it is given to us, of course.) In fact, as your daughters, weren't there my parents to sustain me financially I would certainly not manage to further my studies.

@ L. Aquilina

As to your statement, saying that degrees are distributed as pastizzi, let me assure you that you got it all wrong. How dare you!! Do you know how much studying a regular degree entails?? Let alone an M.A. or a Ph.D. Envy is what made you write what you wrote. If you really had all the qualifications you claimed having, then you would be part of the lecturing staff. If, on the other hand, you tried grabbing a post there and was denied to you for lack of qualifications, then that's not the other lecturers' fault, who possess such qualifications. (You do know it takes more than a regular degree to lecture, don't you?)

Ian Abela (on 1/10/08)

I am a student myself i can tell you that several lecturers do not prepare their lectures adequately, never have any corrections and often take the day off. At an efficeint, private firm, this would result in wage cuts or the loss of a job. At our "centre for excellence", instead of striving for maximum efficiency, the "shapers of tomorrow's future" go crying to the ever-benevolent nanny state, resulting in the further widening of the deficit and pushing inflation.

M. Buhagiar (on 1/10/08)

/cont

Those were just a few points to think about. The list could be endless. But something has to be done. A balance needs to be sought, whereby only good lecturers are accepted at University, having higher wages, and on the other hand, only good students are to be accepted by University at the same time, keeping their well deserved stipends.

How to go about this, I wouldnt know. But I do believe it's the only solution to remedy the poor state that our University has fallen into.

Only then can lecturers demand higher wages (though reasonable ones!). Only then will students will be worth investing in.

Ian Abela (on 1/10/08)

I'm sorry but wages are simply a matter of supply and demand, nothing else. There is nothing "right" or "wrong" about them- when it comes to money there is no room for moral posturing. Lecturers have no right to jeopardise 10,000 or so students' learning intents just because they dont see their wage bill as handsome as those of other professions. When deciding on what career to pursue, they should have taken into account the fact that academics seem to have become "ten a penny", and thus are not paid so well. Should the demand for academics' skills increase or their supply decrease, then the ever-stabilising market forces will result in a higher pay cheque for the Profs. Maybe the disgruntled lecturer should stop clamouring for more money and finally take his job seriously and show up for his lectures instead of leaving several students guessing as to whether they have a lecture or not.

M. Buhagiar (on 1/10/08)

/cont

- on the other hand, the standard and quality of students have decreased miserably, that one does not need to be an expert on the subject to teach them, cos it's like teaching them abc; many students are arrogant and irresponsible: they get paid by the State for their education, and they just go to university to waste their time and tax payers' money; surprisingly they still get their degrees! etc.

-The level of education at our highest educational institution has gone so low; it's like a vicious circle: we have low quality lecturers and low quality students; all students seem to get through though: we get graduates by the thousands nowadays. Most students who hold a degree, do not deserve it. Or else, a degree has become just a piece of paper, nothing to be proud of, nothing to prove one's true level of education.

- among the thousands of students who go to university simply for a ride, there are those genuine students who work really hard, who sacrifice 4 or 5 years of their lives to study, who truly deserve their stipends, who take their studies seriously as should be, etc

cont/

M. Buhagiar (on 1/10/08)

Some points:

- there are some lecturers who truly deserve an increase in their salary because they do their job well, and very often go beyond their direct responsibilities in order to give the maximum to their students. Some lecturers are so dedicated that their whole life centres upon their role as educators, and yes, it is true that there are some lecturers who work hard even in their free time, and during holidays; being a dedicated lecturer can be stressful indeed; to perform well, some lecturers do spend money out of their own pockets to enhance the quality of education they give; etc

- the increases that lecturers are demanding are ridiculously too high though

- many lecturers do not even deserve the salary they have now: some fail to turn up for lectures; some give only an introductory lecture and then ask students to prepare presentations for the rest of the semester; some lecturers do not do any research or publish at all; some lectures use outdated notes they must have drafted when they first started lecturing; some lecturers are experts in their area of study, but are not competent to teach; etc

cont/

Mark Galea (on 1/10/08)

I wonder why it's the students' stipends that are being brought up by some of the bloggers below. I for one have two daughters at University, and I can assure you that, without, their stipends, I would find it very hard to cope. The stipends contribute towards their books, buses, photocopies, etc. In the meantime, although my daughters are 20 and 18 years old, they are still totally dependent on me, and will be for another 3 and 5 years respectively. So anyone feeling that stipends are a waste of tax payers' money, please think again, because not everyone is born with a silver spoon in his mouth!

John Borg (on 1/10/08)

These comments are 20 per cent constructive criticism and 80 per cent class hatred and envy.

Keith Borg (on 1/10/08)

@ Alan Mifsud

Perfectly put!

@ L. Aquilina

Well, then if you do have all it takes, you can go and join the lecturing staff. I mean, if you find their pay to be that gooooood, just go. Well, I expressed my opinion, and didn't post some statement as if it were some cast-iron fact. That, undoubtedly, shows I am already a grown-up, unlike those who just post their comments as if they are founded facts, thinking they are "Mr. High and Mighty"

Sometimes I truly think people judge lecturers the way they do only because of some sour grapes.

Alan Mifsud (on 1/10/08)

So why don't you apply to teach at University Mr Aquilina? Or perhaps the salaries weren't that attractive? Maybe they will now. Or perhaps you're qualified but not enough to get the job? Your claim that degrees are like ''pastizzi'' is very offensive and all the students would agree. To my knowledge ...a first degree (and depending on the subject) is not a rarity but a Ph D is not ''pastizzi''. I think you will have to spend more evenings improving yourself so that maybe one day you may learn how to respect the reality of others....and I hope you are not ''grown up'' yet so there'll be hope,

Michael Gatt (on 1/10/08)

@L Aquilina--- 3 months holidays. That is completely wrong. Apart from that, lecturers have to correct exam papers including thesis. I hope you know what these are. They also organise conferences etc and they even go abroad to enhance their knowledge since what you know today is outdated by tomorrow. So inform yourself before you make comments.
@A.Brincat----You don't know what you are talking about.

Tiziana Pace (on 1/10/08)

@ L. Aquilina
I hope you are aware that you can't just GO and lecture. You need certain qualifications, which always involves years of hard work and sometimes requires leaving behind your family for years (3 or 4 years) to study abroad. And believe me, nobody gets his PhD by taking summer holidays and working a few hours a week as others have suggested. Being a professor isn't some fancy title but it means that you have contributed SIGNIFICANTLY to your field and ultimately the society. And I think this definitely should be duly rewarded.
@ Many others
Unfortunately, many people think a lecturer's job simply involves the lectures he has to deliver. A lecturer has more duties than just lecturing - his work includes research and publications, coordinating and researching on different projects (EU and non-EU), supervision of thesis, preparing for lectures and other course related administration. So no, lecturers don't only work for 2 or 4 hours a week!

I also want to add that in my 4 years of undergrad studies, at most a lecturer didn't turn up on three occasions. And every time another lecture was set up to make up for the one missed.

Joseph Shembri (on 1/10/08)

During my university studies I almost invariably had very good lecturers. They were well prepared and challenged us into thinking creatively. I hold the utmost respect for most of them and I don't remember any of them ever skipping lectures. It is facetious to talk of working hours if only lecturing time is looked at. One must look at the preparation and constant keeping abreast with one's field that is required.

Yes some of them do extra work apart from lecturing and I see this as desirable - If I wanted to learn surgery I'd want a surgeon who actually operates on people to teach me and not someone who's just read many books. If I am studying for a communications degree I'd want lecturers with experience in journalism.

I think that the higher salaries will attract to U of M, European and American academics who will bring with them invaluable experience and create healthy competition for academic posts.

L Aquilina (on 1/10/08)

@Keith Borg

Grow up... I assure you that I do have the qualifications aka degrees to teach at Uni. otherwise I would not have bothered to suggest it. No need to play Mr. High and Mighty, nowadays degrees are like 'pastizzi', and like you I have spent many an evening improving myself academically, but I never expected the Maltese tax payer to dig deeper in their pockets for my personal choices.

Alan Mifsud (on 1/10/08)

Perhaps Mr Camilleri believes that for everybody stipend was a luxury. For me it wasn't. He's assuming that anybody getting in a course leading to a degree is bound to succeed. You may see it the other way round....parents paying taxes and getting something back as a miserly salary for their son or daughter. Mr Camilleri...not everybody is rich. For many families, the son going to University rather than finding a job and perhaps contributing to the family welfare as it may be necessary in some cases...as I do myself till now implies massive hardship. Those who come from a wealthy background do not manage to see these things unfortunately.

Charles Camilleri (on 1/10/08)

The raises the question whether it is time for the taxpayer to demand back the stipends when one sees the enormous pay demanded by the University staff. In other words University students should be given loans to be paid back when they start earning their huge salaries.

Alan Mifsud (on 1/10/08)

I guess Mr. Borg is quite correct. First and foremost one has to acknowledge the fact that although some professors/lecturers especially in some faculties might not be doing their job properly, the vast majority do. The majority of my lecturers at the Junior College and at University have been doing their job properly and were motivated. I have been one of those to give a hard time at times. A summer job with foreign students made me see things from the other side.. The proposed pay rise is not really attractive...let's be honest. If the government gets his way in this, it will set a dangerous measure for all the increments all the other government employees might expect in future collective agreements and well if one is a student or a government employee, I guess it's much wiser to think before uttering sweeping comments.

Keith Davis (on 1/10/08)

Dear Keith Borg, as I said, I surely understand a request to an increase in wage but obviously it is unthinkable to demand a +100% hit on one's salary without being ridiculed by the others, obviously!

Keith Borg (on 1/10/08)

@L Aquilina: I doubt you can go and lecture students! You see, that’s Malta’s problem!!! Since everyone in Malta, as we can clearly see from the postings hereunder and under other stories, loves to preach so much they take it for granted that they can educate and teach others easily, without any sort of degree. Well, truth is that you guys got it all wrong. You really should start seeing lecturers from another perspective. Everyone involved in teaching (and I’m now not just referring to Professors and Lecturers) has quite stressful a job. Apparently, however, this is not noticed from many of you guys. But as they say, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. And it’s also true when they say that there’s no one deafer than him who doesn’t want to listen. Want that sort of pay?? Go get your degrees, spend some 10 years of your life struggling as our lecturers did (minimum) and you will get it. I for one won’t complain if you are qualified enough as the present lecturers.

victor callus (on 1/10/08)

Of course amounts include the 35 % tax. We all pay tax and when we sign an employment contract the gross amount is shown as salary and not less fss etc.
Taxes are used for other services and these employess also gain from these services so another % goes back to them again directly orindirectly !

Alex Caruana (on 1/10/08)

No wonder lecturers are leaving our University to work in other EU member states. The terms and conditions, as well as the salary is plainly uncomparable.

By slamming the door at MUT's face is how the government plans to solve the 'brain drain' the University is suffering from.... how very fruitful. As fruitful as the generalizing sweeping comments of Mr J Borg below.

Alistair Facciol (on 1/10/08)

Because of this strike, many students are still awaiting the result of their resit, which took place at the beginning of September. The answer you get is that the Board of Examiners decided that they will issue the results after the strike is over. Is this fair?? Do they deserve the pay rise?? Who is suffering here?? Just the students.

Keith Davis (on 1/10/08)

What on earth do these people think they are?! They are demanding nearly double their wages! Do they call this an 'increase in wage' or massive daylight robbery to the Maltese people? One thing is asking for 5% increase but 100% is just being greedy and cheeky on us taxpayers!!.

A. Brincat (on 1/10/08)

as i already commented in the other articles,

The uni. lecturers don't deserve the wage increase, mainly because of their arrogance such as failing students and their lack of respect towards the students.

Andrei Azzopardi (on 1/10/08)

This is to be condemned. This action caused other private teachers to loose pay because of the delays from the commencement of said schools.

L. Aquilina (on 1/10/08)

Three months holidays were perhaps not enough!! If the state gave in to this whim, we will all be rushing to change our jobs to lecturers. We look forward to some common sense to prevail in this ridiculous situation.

Keith Borg (on 1/10/08)

As a student, I expect the government to give us the best possible as for our education. Currently, we have the crème de la crème. And it’s that way that WE unquestionably want it to remain. We cannot afford to lose the incredibly erudite lecturers we have. It’s a cast-iron fact that their present pay is simply ridiculous. Without you all jumping on me, I say it’s ridiculous because their whole load of qualifications really deserve more. It’s a blatant lie that lecturers skip lectures. If sometimes they skip one, it’s because they have a really valid motive, such as going abroad for some conference concerning their subject. So please, don’t lie on them. They deserve more because they’re great lecturers and they do their job dutifully. I urge the government, whom I so far truly admired for investing in our education and caring for students, to listen to them as they’ve always listened to others. Many will ask me if I do attend Malta’s University, since I speak highly of ‘these’ lecturers. Yes, I do, and I’m really proud to have such impeccable professors and lecturers in both the Italian and Communications departments.

Neil Dent (on 1/10/08)

The demands made on the educators' behalf are extortionate and way out of proportion.
nb - to clarify on the union's claims - the 35% tax band at present is only applied to amounts earned in excess of €19,000 for single persons, or €28,000 for joint rates. Please don't read the above and assume that 35% means a flat tax rate on the entire salary.

S. Scerri (on 1/10/08)

@john borg - no wonder, with those salaries!

C Calleja (on 1/10/08)

Wasn't it previously stated that the strike was a "100% success". Merely a few hours after that, and unions are already negotiating. I think this goverment (whilst having many flaws) is showing unions that there is no room for exorbitant requests. If they want to strike, they can strike as much as they want, obviously unpaid. I think the lecturers slammed the doors on students this morning by their strike. How ethical is this strike?

john strutton (on 1/10/08)

Why can't two intellegent groups of people settle a dispute without calling a Strike, especially one that hits a third party. In my opinion this strike stoops as low as the Transport strike we had a few months ago where the innocent commuter was targeted - in this case it's the students who have been hit on their first day back to University.

A Camilleri (on 1/10/08)

It was so good to see the filming of the rally organised by the Unions for the University lecturers. Actually I managed to see some lecturers whom I haven't seen during the whole supposedly semester's lectures!!!

To be fair there are others whom I saw every now and then during their lectures!

At least, the rally was good for something........

john borg (on 1/10/08)

Minister Cristina, don't give in...they think they should be above everybody over here! Some of them do not turn up to deliver lectures and many of them are doing another job.

Unions offer compromise in lecturers' pay dispute

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