
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
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!
What about the disrespect that students show towards their lecturers?
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.
@ 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!!
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?)
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.
- 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/
- 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/
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.
@A.Brincat----You don't know what you are talking about.
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.
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.
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.
Taxes are used for other services and these employess also gain from these services so another % goes back to them again directly orindirectly !
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.
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.
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.
To be fair there are others whom I saw every now and then during their lectures!
At least, the rally was good for something........