Updated at 10.15pm with Mcast statement
The Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology is on Friday dropping the court case it instituted against the Malta Union of Teachers, the college said on Thursday.
It said in a statement that this was being done as a gesture of goodwill on its part for progress to be achieved.
Earlier in the day, Mcast offered to drop the proceedings on condition that discussions would resume "uninterruptedly".
This offer was refused by the MUT, which saw the proposal as a sign of panic since a court decision was imminent.
It noted "Mcast's panic when stating that it is withdrawing the warrant when a court decision is imminent. The sense of goodwill by Mcast is a conditional one and MUT is not ready to accept any conditions for the withdrawal of the muzzling action."
In its late evening statement, Mcast said it was ready to meet the MUT to continue discussions immediately and called for all stakeholders to work together for the best interest of students and educators.
"We owe it to our young people and dedicated staff to find a mature and sensible way forward for a successful resolution."
In its earlier statement it had pointed out it had always been open to continue discussions, had already offered a very good package of improved conditions for academic staff and was willing to continue discussions on this front for the benefit of its staff and students.
"We believe this is a reasonable and fair way forward that can lead to the conclusion of this agreement, if there is indeed goodwill from both sides to reach this goal," the college said.
Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said the ministry asked Mcast to withdraw the proceedings and the college was willing to do so as a sign of good faith.
On Wednesday, Mcast denied trying to introduce new practices while the Malta Union of Teachers was unable to protest.
The MUT became “effectively muzzled” after a prohibitory injunction stopped the union from being able to take industrial action or issue directives two weeks ago. The MUT said the strike was triggered by Mcast “dragging its feet” on negotiations for a new collective agreement.
Read: Mcast students frustrated by dispute between college and lecturers
The MUT on Wednesday said the college’s management was trying to introduce a new practice that would see educators reimbursed for one-way journeys only.
This means that if lecturers go to teach outside the Mcast premises and return to the college, they will only be reimbursed for one of the two journeys, MUT president Marco Bonnici explained.
They seized the opportunity when they knew we couldn’t oppose it
While educators used a logbook to record their journeys, Mcast was trying to introduce a new online application that would increase the bureaucratic process by which educators could be reimbursed, Mr Bonnici said.
Read: Situation at Mcast is due to government's hard-headedness - Delia
The college was moving forward with these plans after the MUT had objected to them for months, he added.
“They seized the opportunity to introduce the application because they knew we could not issue directives against it,” he insisted.
Mcast denied the allegations in a statement, saying no new practices were introduced after the court upheld its request to stop the strike.
The college said it found no objection to continued discussions to find common ground.
Mcast wrote to the Department of Industrial Relations a number of times to request a conciliation meeting to resume talks. The DIER communicated its willingness to set up the meeting.
“The end goal of Mcast is to improve the working conditions of its lecturing staff and continue raising standards in this sector, so Maltese and Gozitan students can continue their educational journey and succeed in their aspirations,” the college said.
But MUT refused any conciliation meetings, saying they were not ready to negotiate before a court sentence was given.
Judge Joseph R. Micallef is exp-ected to deliver a decision on the injunction from his chambers.