Lecturers' actions worry students' organisation
The social democrat student organisation Pulse expressed concern over planned actions by the lecturers' unions, saying that if exams are not done students will either not be given their credits or will have to do all their exams at once.
Although the organisation said it agreed with the need for the unions to protect their members' rights, this should not be done to the detriment of students.
The comments follow a call by the University of Malta Academic Staff Association and the Malta Union of Teachers to all academic staff at the University and the Junior College to withhold all end-of-semester examination papers. If the exams were held or papers already submitted, then the scripts are not to be collected, the unions have instructed members.
Pulse yesterday called for the University Students' Council to be more proactive and protect the rights of students through consultation with them.
Meanwhile, the General Workers' Union expressed its full support to the MUT and Umasa in their dispute with the government over the revision of the collective agreement for academic staff at the University.
While it urged all those involved to restart negotiations as soon as possible, the GWU appealed for common sense to prevail so that a fair solution is found for the good of students.
The GWU called on the government to soften its position and find a way to bridge the gap with the unions.
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J. Borg
Dec 18th 2008, 21:42
@Pulse
You may be right but can you please give MUT and UMASA a concrete idea of how the rigths of academics can be protected too? MUT and UMASA fully agree that the impact on studetns should be minimized and for that reason, they have patiently waited for now 5 years to get new working conditions? Which Union will wait that long??? Unfortunately, time expired and there is now no other way except to take industrial action and to actually amplify these in the coming days. Sorry...but academics cannot keep on subsidizing free tertiary education. Also, is PULSE happy to see an increasing shift of full-time academic staff changing to part-time status? Is this what PULSE wants to achieve?
Joseph Buhagiar
Dec 18th 2008, 11:50
The student organisations always point their fingers at the union and the lecturers. Well there is another entity in the picture: the government.
It is the government that is creating this situation and not the lecturers. If the government gave lecturers an appropriate package (text and salary)- then this industrial action would have never happened.
A similar industrial action was implemented last July. This was stopped because the union decided to continue new talks (buona fede). The government on the other hand came back with an increase of 1,000 Euros per year (mind you 35% of these go back to the government as tax).
I am sorry that the students will be hit directly by this industrial action but this is not the fault of either UMASA or the lecturers. It is the fault of the government.
J Farrugia
Dec 18th 2008, 10:29
Trust the GWU to jum,p on these useless unions' bandwagon. So the GWU is asking the Government to give a hefty pay rise to these sangisuga, and in the same instant, on its newspapers it slams the government for giving a pay rise which even the MLP Whip was in favour of. How controversial can this GWU be.