Two unions representing teachers are at each other’s throats over a collective agreement for church schools.

In a statement on Friday, the Union of Professional Educators - Voice of The Workers said that the agreement being negotiated by the Malta Union of Teachers was a "copy and paste exercise" of a sectorial agreement signed in December.

It said the MUT was currently conducting an online vote to seek approval but this was a list of populist questions that would attract a yes answer.

This was against trade union values, it said, adding that the standard and most transparent way of seeking members’ approval was to have the agreement disseminated among members and explained chapter by chapter. Only then should a yes or no vote the taken on the complete text.

The UPE said that the sectorial agreement signed last December determined the major changes that would be happening in the coming scholastic years. 

“The church school agreement is a copy and paste exercise with minor changes. Financials and allowances, job description and job engagement, as well as the introduction of the Leaning Outcomes Frameworks, will remain the same as per sectorial agreement,” it said.