The Malta Union of Teachers yesterday announced that it did not have confidence in the leadership of the Confe-deration of Malta Trade Unions, of which it is a member.

In a statement in which it described the government’s proposals on utility tariffs as lacking clarity and not computed well enough to ensure that its members and pensioners are not hit adversely, Malta’s oldest union declared its no confidence in CMTU president William Portelli.

The union said Mr Portelli declared that CMTU was in favour of the proposed revision without consulting with the confederation’s affiliates or calling a council meeting.

MUT said it took part in all meetings and discussions with other unions over the government’s proposed revision of utility tariffs and its opinion was shared with nine other unions.

It accused CMTU with not asking for its opinion and failing to organise the meeting scheduled for Tuesday it had advertised on the media. So much so, it said, that Mr Portelli went abroad on that very same day.

MUT said, “it was a shame that CMTU, or rather Mr Portelli, wants to muzzle its affiliates that do not agree with him while leaving other affiliates to freely speak their minds.”

Contacted by The Malta Independent, Mr Portelli said the MUT was highly inconsistent of late, as it declared its no confidence just a week after it had confirmed its confidence.

He could not explain why the union would opt for such drastic action and was frankly surprised.

The CMTU president, who is also president of the Malta Union of Bank Employees, said the confederation’s reaction was known to all of its affiliates and the MUT did not react to it. This meant that teachers’ union did not object either, he said.

Other unions had either endorsed the CMTU reaction or filed their no objection, said Mr Portelli. He said he was surprised by MUT’s reaction, considering that he heard a number of teachers agreeing with the CMTU’s stand.

He confirmed that a CMTU council meeting will be organised once he returns to Malta from the conference he was attending.

Asked whether MUT’s latest statement was motivated by the two parties’ lack of agreement on the set up of a Trade Union Council, Mr Portelli said he did not believe that this was the case.

He said that the MUT had misunderstood CMTU’s statement when it described the call for a TUC as “untimely”. Mr Portelli said the MUT had taken the remark out of context as the CMTU believed that there were more pressing issues, such as utility tariffs, than the setting up of the council.