Academics to decide on pay offer today

University lecturers will today give their verdict on the government's latest pay offer.

The University Academic Staff Association (Umasa) has called an extraordinary general meeting to discuss the offer, which will form part of the new collective agreement. If the members vote against, action would be taken accordingly, Umasa president Victor Buttigieg warned, although he would not specify what form this would take.

The government, the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) and Umasa are deadlocked over pay demands made by the unions, which the government has rejected. The unions' demands are substantially more than what the government is offering.

"As the negotiating team, we are not happy with the latest offer made about two weeks ago," Mr Buttigieg said.

Asked whether it was likely that they would vote against the new collective agreement, Mr Buttigieg said only that the members were free to make their own decision.

The meeting is being held at noon and lectures have been suspended for its duration - a normal procedure in these circumstances, he said.

Any collective agreement needs to be approved by the members of the union, according to the statute, he explained.

At the start of the month, the MUT and Umasa had ordered University and Junior College professors and lecturers to hold a one-day strike over the financial package. The academic staff had boycotted the ceremony marking the opening of the University's academic year.

The lecturers maintained they could not continue to work with their current salaries. It was considered "ridiculous" that a university professor's gross basic pay was currently €31,881 and the government was only proposing to raise it to €33,505 from January.

Senior lecturers received a gross salary of €26,465 and the government had proposed an increase to €27,769, while assistant lecturers were paid €20,300 and the proposed increase was of €21,247.

The general sentiment of academics has been that their financial packet is "shameful" and "demeaning", especially when compared to their European counterparts.