The Malta Union of Teachers has protested over comments made by the Mayor of Sliema, Anthony Chircop, regarding objections to the local council's proposed residents’ parking scheme.

The mayor reportedly said that teachers working at schools in Sliema were the only ones who complained when the scheme was originally introduced.

The MUT said the mayor seemed to have forgotten that the proposed parking scheme would have meant that every employee providing a service in Sliema, including teachers, would have had to shift his/her car every 120 minutes to avoid incurring hefty fines.

The union said that to date there had not been any consultation with employers and employees providing services in the locality.

"If the mayor wanted to obtain a clear picture of the parking situation at his locality, the study which the council commissioned should have included all employers and employees providing services at Sliema," the union said. 

"The union will not accept a situation where educators need to abandon students to move their cars around every two hours to avoid fines and will again resort to industrial action if such a scheme is implemented," the union said. (It had also ordered action when the scheme was originally introduced).