From Mr A. Micallef Debono

Everyone, especially people working in education, are deeply worried about reports of violence in schools. Violence is unacceptable everywhere but more so at schools. School is the place where our children are taught human values of tolerance, altruism and mutual respect.

It is everyone’s duty to do his part so that this violence never raises its ugly head, especially in our schools.

Perhaps not everyone is aware that besides local legislation dealing with the problem there also exists a Framework Agreement on Harassment and Violence at Work. This is an EU sponsored agreement between European employers and trade unions, which after difficult negotiations was finally signed in Brussels on 26 April 2007. During my time at CMTU I had the honour to be the Maltese workers’ representative on the negotiating team of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). The Maltese employers’ representative was from the Federation of Industry (FOI). This agreement is based on various EU directives and though not legally binding on member States, it is the responsibility of the local Social Partners to exert pressure on their governments to implement it.

The text of the agreement can be found at: http://www.tradeunionpress.eu/Agreement%20violence/Framework%20Agreement%20Harassment%20and%20Violence%20at%20Work2.pdf

I invite all Maltese trade unions and especially in this case our union, The Malta Union of Teachers (MUT), to study the agreement and together with Maltese employers’ associations exert pressure on the government to implement it. This should help in no small way to tackle the problem not only in schools but also in any other workplace.

Anthony Micallef Debono