The president of the teachers’ union is demanding an apology from the principal of San Anton School, accusing him of using derogatory terms about staff in an e-mail.
The Malta Union of Teachers said that the e-mail, which it received on Tuesday, included comments made by head teacher Joe Gauci about his staff.
Dr Gauci is alleged to have written: “What kind of trash are these people! This is coming from (the name of a teacher he assumed made the complaint). WTF? They knew we were getting whiteboards” and “No pedagogical benefits? – They know it all… so much for their B.Eds”.
However, Dr Gauci insisted last night that he did not write the e-mail, adding that he had “inadvertently” sent parts of an e-mail forwarded to him.
For MUT president Kevin Bonello, the e-mail was “completely unacceptable” and “intimidating”.
He said it was sent in reply to a list of questions by the union about the school’s collective agreement.
“In all the years that I have been negotiating collective agreements, I have never seen an e-mail like that where such derogatory terms were used in an official correspondence. It is very clear that he doesn’t trust his teachers and looks down on them,” Mr Bonello added.
San Anton School teachers had been feeling this and “he proved them right with the e-mail,” Mr Bonello said.
Mr Bonello said yesterday Dr Gauci told the union the e-mail was a mistake because it was an “internal e-mail”.
However, the union president pointed out that the mail had been sent to several union officials, insisting that this clearly indicated it was no mistake.
“It’s not on that such an e-mail is sent to colleagues about staff. It’s not ethical and very unfair,” Mr Bonello noted.
“We want a clear apology to his staff and that he repairs the damage done.”
The union has suspended all connections with the school and would not attend meetings until the matter was cleared.
Dr Gauci said that he had received feedback about the union’s proposals from a colleague, which he copied and pasted. “I started amending it to reply to the union but sent it accidentally,” he said.
The contents of the e-mail did not reflect his views or that of the school board. “It was a huge misunderstanding”.
He said he tried to contact the union as soon as he realised he had sent the e-mail.
The word “trash” was referring to union officials, not teachers. “I have no reason to say anything against our teachers. We have great respect and care for them. They are hard workers,”Dr Gauci said.
The union has asked the education authorities to look into the matter.
An Education Ministry spokesman said: “The Directorate and Teachers’ Council will investigate any complaint made about matters falling under their remit and responsibilities”.