Well, well, well. Predictable, wasn’t it?

Now that the mid-yearly exams are over, the Malta Union of Teachers has withdrawn its industrial action directives. It said it did so after seeing goodwill on the part of the government to find a solution on some remuneration issue.

I will not be surprised that, when May comes and the end-of-year exams are round the corner, the MUT will find some other excuse to register another industrial dispute with the government. Just wait and see.

The pattern is there. Close to exam time, the MUT comes up with an issue that in one way or another leads to industrial confrontation, which puts added pressure on students, of whatever age. It does this to arm-twist the authorities into making concessions. Once the exams are over, it withdraws and starts preparing for the next round.

When I had highlighted this some time ago, several teachers contacted me to say that they had never realised that the union, their own union, was using exams to put pressure on the authorities. They understand that a union is there to guard their interests, but they believe it should never do so at the expense of students.

The MUT is not very popular with its members these days. Its participation in a politically-propelled demonstration against the water and electricity tariffs cost it heavily in terms of popularity. Being linked with the General Workers Union, a union that was part of the Labour government in the 1980s when the MUT was trampled on and had its headquarters attacked, did not go down well, especially with the older generation of members. To them it looked like the MUT was sleeping with the enemy.

Somehow, the MUT was manipulated into thinking that the government would have backed down, possibly collapsed. Whoever thought so must have had their heads in the clouds. No wonder those heads were held in hands afterwards.

The MUT realised what it had allowed itself to be drawn into too late. Nobody can change that part of history now. Not even by having its president John Bencini disassociate himself from the insults that were hurled at the Prime Minister. What’s done is done.

What the MUT also did not realise is that the directives it issued earlier this year added to the burdens of head teachers and assistant head teachers, who are now considering setting up their own union. To fight one battle, the MUT ended up negatively affecting other union members.

It must also be remembered that when the MUT negotiated the last collective agreement, it failed to realise that a teacher with 16 years of experience earns the same salary as an assistant head, in spite of the added responsibilities of the latter. The agreement was signed, and now it has become increasingly difficult for the authorities to find people who are willing to become assistant head teachers, knowing that they will not get a wage increase in spite of the promotion.

That this anomaly was not discovered before the signing of the agreement is another blow to the MUT’s credibility. It is a shame that a union, which prides itself on being topnotch, failed to realise the situation before it signed the agreement which was described as “historic”.

It is no wonder that many teachers are considering their position with the MUT. When I sent questions to the union’s general secretary to ask how many teachers had resigned their membership over the past weeks, he did not answer. People normally do not give an answer when they have something to hide or are not pleased with the truth.

I would like to make an autobiographical note here, even though one dumb blonde apparently does not like it when I make personal comments. Bad luck to her.

I must make it clear that I do not in any way bear any grudges against the teaching profession in general, nor against any particular teacher or teachers, as is being suggested in some quarters. Teachers are like any other professionals – most of them carry out their work conscientiously and in the best interest of students.

In their great majority, teachers go out of their way to be of assistance to students, and often accept to correct extra work or try to make work easier and more interesting, such as by voluntarily going for a virtual class concept to help students who are sick at home, or to help them go over their lessons. By the way, this proposal was shot down by the MUT.

I have many friends who are teachers; I have many relatives who are teachers or were teachers, and had a good relationship with most of my teachers, to whom I remain eternally grateful.

Of course, there are a few who do give a bad name to the teaching profession, such as those who, for example, blog during school hours. Frankly (italics intended), to me this is unacceptable, and school administrators would do well to monitor such a situation. I wouldn’t want my son or daughter to be in a class where the teacher is far (again, italics intended) more interested in replying to comments on the Internet, or personally attacking people such as the undersigned, instead of seeing to his duties.

There’s another thing. I did not know whether to laugh or cry when colleagues of mine told me that Mr Bencini suggested that perhaps I write about the MUT because of issues in my private life. To reach this level of thinking is incomprehensible and downright ugly. Making such comments – and you all know how the Maltese think: a rumour grows and grows and is taken as the truth – is a malicious way of getting back at me, just as much as he tried (and failed) to intimidate me when he mentioned my name twice in front of thousands of people at the recent demonstration the MUT participated in with the GWU.

No, I do not write about the MUT because of the issues that Mr Bencini suggested to my colleagues.

I write about the MUT because I think it has made many mistakes in the recent past, including its participation in the energy protest march.

I write about the MUT because the union council chose to team up with the GWU without the consent of its members, and then had the temerity to say it believed in consultation.

I write about the MUT because it expresses itself against the virtual class system to defend those very few teachers who shame the profession.

I write about the MUT because the union uses exam time to make its industrial threats and carry them out.

I write about the MUT because I think that it has lost its soul and needs to start a new chapter.

I write about the MUT because it needs someone with the leadership skills and foresight of the late Alfred Buhagiar.

[email protected]