Chaos reigns among some 100 public service officers currently working as translators on a temporary basis in Luxembourg and Brussels, Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) president John Bencini said yesterday.

Mr Bencini said a circular they received on 23 October indicates that special unpaid leave is not given by the government for more than three years, so should the translators resign from their current post in Malta, they will lose all their benefits.

The MUT president said this issue was of particular concern to the union since the majority of translators employed within EU institutions are teachers.

When Malta joined the EU in 2004, it needed a number of translators to work in Luxembourg and Brussels. In fact, the government had issued a circular to encourage public service officers, particularly teachers, to apply for such posts, Mr Bencini said.

“We cannot understand what happened. People were encouraged to work as translators two years ago, and the number of Maltese translators is definitely still lacking, but now the government doesn’t seem to need translators any longer.

“And yet, I have not yet been given an explanation. I have tried to contact the Office of the Prime Minister, since the circular was issued by Management and Personnel Office, but the only feedback I got so far is that the directive was issued from the EU,” Mr Bencini said.

The circular stipulates that only A9 translators or higher ranked officials are entitled to special leave on grounds of “public policy”, meaning they will be entitled to all the benefits, including a pension from Malta.

“However, there are around 100 A5 or A6 translators, so these cannot continue working on the grounds of public policy. This means that if they resign from their post with the Maltese public service, they will lose all their years of service,” Mr Bencini said.