The Malta Union of Teachers will be holding an urgent council meeting today after the union emerged dissatisfied from yesterday's talks with government.

The union and the government were meant to agree on a schedule of meetings to discuss the union's proposed amendments to the July 2007 education reform.

However, when contacted, MUT president John Bencini said the meeting "was not as positive as we would have liked it to be" and, consequently, the council would be convened today.

When pressed, Mr Bencini did not elaborate, saying negotiations were still open. A spokesman for the Education Ministry preferred not to comment for the same reason.

Yesterday's meeting was one of the conditions against which, last week, the union agreed to suspend a work-to-rule directive in government schools.

The union had ordered a one-day strike, on April 30, and a work-to-rule in schools that was meant to start last week.

The action was taken because the union is accusing the government of failing to submit counter-proposals to its proposed amendments to the education reform signed in 2007.

The proposals included new requests such as increases in allowances, new wages for new posts and reducing the number of students in each class.