Updated at 4.45pm, adds PL statement
The government is treating Mcast academic staff as second class workers when it refuses to offer them the conditions they deserved, PN education spokeswoman Therese Comodini Cachia said.
She said in a statement that in spite of boasting of the country’s economic success, the government remained stingy with educators.
Students were also feeling the effect of the disagreement at Mcast directly for teachers had been constrained to turn to industrial action as the students were preparing for examinations.
Because of the government’s hardheadedness, the government had brought division in the education sector and students and teachers were suffering.
While at Christmas time, it had announced it would be giving teachers the best conditions ever, once the festivities were over these realised these had been just empty promises.
Referring to the agreement reached recently with MUT, Dr Comodini Cachia said that the details uncovered in the agreement were a slap at workers who certainly did not need more demotivation and discouragement.
The situation in education had been going from one issue to another without a clear sense of direction or political responsibility for years. The government thought it would silence everyone by offering workers a financial package which looked better than it actually was. It also sought to push workers against their union when it bound the MUT not to divulge details of the agreement.
Rather than invest in educators, the government was trying to deceive them. It seemed that the Labour government did not understand that teachers formed tomorrow’s society and that lack of respect towards their work would only lead to a lack of preparedness and opportunities for Maltese children.
Read: Teachers' union accused of 'mistrust', 'betrayal' by three ex-council members
It was PN government who had given 1% miserable increase to teachers - PL
The Labour government had invested in educators without precedent through the collective agreement signed in December.
The MUT, the government said, would have taken industrial action had its requests not been accepted.
It said that if there was a government which had allowed workers to fall behind it was the Nationalist government which had given a 1% miserable wage increase.
Because of this, the government had to start negotiations from scratch making them much more difficult.
That was why it was justified for workers to request and be given increases which had never been given to the profession before. Because the profession had been allowed to fall behind in preceding years.