The Malta Union of Teachers ordered a one-day strike last week, which it described as having been successful. It later called off a work to rule directive, which was planned to start as from last Monday, after dates for a series of meetings were drawn up with the Education Ministry in a bid to find a solution to the prevailing impasse.

The union has said that it expects an agreement to be finalised by the end of the scholastic year. Knowing how trade union matters protract because of the fine details, a two-month deadline seems to be too short in the circumstances, but at least the union has promised not to take any other action which could affect students at a delicate time.

It must be remembered that students are currently preparing for their final year examinations. It is a stressful time for them – and for their families – and any union directives that are obeyed by teachers would harm no-one but the students.

The MUT knows this, and knows also that the government seeks to avoid any disruptions when the exams are about to be held, and therefore sought to put pressure on the government at a time when it was more probable that some sort of accord would have been found. In a way, the two sides have now agreed on a ceasefire as they negotiate the terms and conditions of an update to the agreement that was reached in 2007.

Unions always seek to take advantage of circumstances as they fight for improved salaries for their members. If, say, an election is coming, they try to put the government with its back to the wall and some succeed in doing so. But unions should also understand that they have other responsibilities, and it would be wrong to put them aside even when they are doing their duty in safeguarding their members’ interests.

In this case, the MUT chose the weeks leading up to the final examinations as the time to bring up an industrial dispute. It is not a coincidence that it has done so. Some time ago, it resorted to the same tactic when the University lecturers’ issue was at hand.

It is more worrying to hear MUT president John Bencini boasting that the work to rule directive – which was withdrawn – would have been “worse” than the strike, to use his words, because it would have paralysed schools. The directive, had it been implemented, would have meant that teachers perform only their teaching duties and correct homeworks.

The way it was said leads one to believe that the MUT was prepared to cause disruptions in schools knowing that they would have added to the stress and tension students feel in the weeks leading up to their final examinations. What is worse is that the MUT seemed to be enjoying the moment, and specifically chose it to put pressure on the government which had no other way out than to accept the conditions imposed by the union because it did not want the students to suffer the consequences.

Teachers, and the union that represents them, should know that they have duties towards the students they teach. Of course, they do have the right to protect their interests, and seek better conditions, but this should never be done at the expense of the students.

Thankfully, the MUT has agreed on a truce that will see – if the union keeps its word – the end of the current scholastic year without any further problems. If the MUT really believes in what it says – that students come first and foremost – then it should never use them as a means to achieve its targets.