The Malta Union of Teachers will not be accepting MCAST's latest offer in which different financial packages will be given to academic and vocational lecturers.

The union has ordered a second round of industrial action due to a stalemate with MCAST over a collective agreement which expired in December 2016. MCAST had initially taken the matter to court but later withdrew the legal action as a sign of goodwill, but the union has refused the latest set of proposals made by the college.

MCAST staff and union officials and delegates this morning stood outside MCAST main gate in Paola, holding up posters carrying the words: "equal rights, equal pay"; "nothing less, parity of esteem", "appreciation and esteem", "respect our rights", "we demand what we deserve". The lecturers were on a two-hour strike today.

Speaking to the Malta independent, MUT president Marco Bonnici said that this week alone MUT met with MCAST five times to try and reach an agreement. "It is not true that we have not been negotiating.”

But the union does not agree with the MCAST proposal that lecturers should be divided in different groups, as this would have created second and third class. “Half would be getting the new financial packet and the other half would not. That for us is not acceptable," Bonnici stated.

Bonnici explained in a press conference that MCAST’s latest proposals would divide vocational and academic sectors. "This could effectively mean, that for example a lecturer that applied yesterday would get a better package than a lecture who has been at MCAST from the beginning 17 years ago," Bonnici said. He explained that this is because qualifications today are regarded as of a higher level than qualifications 17 years ago, even in the same subject.

When questioned by this newsroom as to what MUT's next step was, Bonnici said there will be talks that also involve the government in a bid to resolve the impasse.

There are also other points which have stalled negotiations including: work resources; the financial package for 2018 and increases until the end of the agreement under discussion and number of lessons per week.

MCAST will be holding a press conference to give its side of this story later.