Trade unions representing academic staff at the University and the Junior College have presented a new set of salary proposals to the Finance Minister in a bid to break a stalemate that kept lecturers and professors away from their students yesterday.

The proposals were submitted before the deadline imposed by Finance Minister Tonio Fenech who, on Monday, threatened to withdraw the salary package proposed by the government unless the unions made their counter proposals by noon yesterday.

The Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) and the University of Malta Academic Staff Association (Umasa) are insisting they want to keep discussions open.

If the government ignores these attempts "it is in for trouble" as the unions would consider roping in teachers from across the education sector into the dispute, MUT president John Bencini said.

Without disclosing the proposals submitted yesterday, Mr Bencini said he was hurt and angered by the deceitful manner in which the ministry had "splashed" the unions' original proposals in the media without mentioning that the requests had since changed, as regularly happens during such negotiations.

He accused the ministry of trying to paint a negative image of the unions and lead the pubic to think they were being greedy.

During meetings this week, Mr Bencini said the unions attempted to reach a middle ground between the financial packages proposed by the government and the unions. Yet, the ministry failed to highlight this when it quoted figures to the media.

He said the figures quoted by the ministry included the performance bonus (that ranged between 11 and 15 per cent) and the basic gross salary. The message sent was that all lecturers would get the bonus when the bonus was an incentive for sterling work.

The figures released did not explain that 35 per cent of the sum would be deducted in tax, he said.

The MUT last night held a council meeting to discuss the way forward.

Despite yesterday's one-day strike by lecturers and professors, students turned up at the University and the Junior College. Speaking to The Times, most students said they felt the dispute should have been resolved before the start of the academic year because, ultimately, they would suffer.

During a rally on Monday, the unions instructed professors and lecturers to strike for a day to nudge the University management into rethinking the financial package as part of in the collective agreement.

Although the academic staff and the management have agreed over the vision of the agreement they are at loggerheads over the financial package.

The unions are demanding a salary that reflects the ambitious vision but the government is arguing it cannot afford the "unrealistic" salaries proposed by the unions as these would cost the economy €140 million over six years.