The Malta Union of Teachers has accepted an invitation to join another 10 trade unions in the Forum of Trade Unions.

The MUT, which recently left the Confederation of Maltese Trade Unions CMTU, said the decision to join the forum was taken unanimously by its council in a secret vote.

The MUT's original idea to form a Trades Union Council was last week toned down and a meeting for unions only discussed how they can better work together.

MUT president John Bencini had said that, after proposing the idea last year, the union believed the country was not yet prepared to have one organisation representing all unions as would have been the case with a TUC.

The TUC idea has brought somewhat drastic consequences for the MUT. The suggestion was first floated only a few days after all unions united to oppose the proposed water and electricity tariffs. But it was immediately shot down by the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin, which argued that the time was not ripe and there were more pressing issues to deal with. The CMTU followed suit, with its president saying the proposal was "untimely".

This reaction developed into a series of bitter exchanges between the MUT and the CMTU, which ended up in the expulsion of the former.

The other 10 unions in the forum, set up in 2004, are the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, the University of Malta Academic Staff Association, the Association of Airline Engineers, the Union Ħaddiema Bank Ċentrali, the Union Professjonisti Awtorità ta' l-Ippjanar, the Enemalta Professional Officers' Union, the Union of Cabin Crew, the Airline Pilots' Association, the Union Technical and Clerical - Mepa and the Union Periti u Inġiniera fis-Servizz Pubbliku.