December 4, 2024 at 11:35 am
PR, MCAST situation: Government responsible for the delays in reaching an agreement- its position changed overnight
The MUT has been negotiating the MCAST agreement with OPM until Monday 2nd December and progress was being made as reported. However and unexpectedly, yesterday at the start of the scheduled negotiations meeting which should have lasted 6 hours, the lead negotiator at OPM, Dr Joyce Cassar insisted upon recording herself using her mobile whilst making a statement. In her recorded statement she mentioned a list of the pending requests presented by MUT and she stated that the Government’s reply is a categorical ‘no’ to all remaining proposals. At the same time she acclaimed that whilst the list she provided is not-negotiable, tomorrow’s (Wednesday’s) scheduled meeting shall only be held if the MUT lifts directives.
MUT made its position clear that whilst the Union is not ready to withdraw the requests made, it is not ready to lift directives. The Union clarifies that what the Education Ministry stated regarding the source of the dispute is completely false. It is not a matter of the presence of lecturers and other staff on the MCAST premises and it was never the case. The government did not even want to discuss with the MUT the progression structure and criteria which affects all grades in this agreement. This is surely a major pending issue amongst others.
The financial proposal presented months ago by the government was not accepted by the MUT and this was clearly communicated to the government. The Union has not yet presented its counter proposal to establish first the progress made on the text of the agreement as it would determine the ultimate financial requests. The MUT will never accept that negotiations are stalled simply through a ‘no’ to remaining proposals.
The MUT questions: Why has the government decided to scrap ongoing negotiations overnight and instead declare that it is rejecting all the remaining MUT proposals? Why did the lead negotiator at OPM record herself whilst saying a categorical ‘no’ to all remaining proposals? Who is negotiating what? Why has the government repeatedly declare that progress was being made when it suddenly decided to halt all discussions?
Since the government is not willing to negotiate it should not say repeatedly that it promotes social dialogue. The government is responsible for the failure in negotiations and the delay in concluding the agreement, three years after it expired.
