The Union of Professional Educators’ industrial action at the ITS (Institute of Tourism Studies) has been ongoing for the last five days after the union registered a trade dispute over the conditions of work of its members at the institute.

Addressing the media on Friday, Union President Graham Sansone said that management did not contact the union to resolve the matter but preferred to discuss it before the department of employment and industrial relations. This is not a standard procedure as usually both parties try to find an amicable solution before resorting to the DIER, Sansone said.

This lack of communication from management resulted in the unnecessary suffering of students who currently are studying for their diploma within the Institute, Sansone said.

Following various concerns at the Institute of Tourism Studies related to the running of the kitchen and restaurants, lecturing staff being required to work without prior consultation, the severe repercussions on moral, health and safety and the pedagogical aspects of the lecturers and students, the UPE issued a series of directives effective as from last Monday.

The directives were that:

-        ITS members of the UPE are not to teach, lecture or do practical sessions when they are assigned mixed classes of different levels such as foundation and diploma classes.

-        ITS members of the UPE are not to correct, assign marks on paper, orally or digitally to mixed classes of different levels such as foundation and diploma classes.

-        ITS members of the UPE are not to prepare, cook or discuss any catering services that are unrelated to their curriculum. This means that they are not to prepare food for management meetings.

-        ITS members of the UPE are to refrain from teaching in areas in the school that do not allow them to have a view of all students during practical sessions. This is to safeguard the health and safety of the students and lecturers.

-        ITS members of the UPE are not to communicate, virtually, in writing or physically with management with regards to the above-mentioned issues, but are to directly inform the UPE to discuss on their behalf.

The union said that these directives were in response to numerous issues which need to be urgently resolved including:

1.  The amalgamation of foundation students and those of diploma is unorthodox and creates a difficulty in teaching and coordinating and requires an immediate review. There is a clear mismatch in the knowledge, skills, and competences to execute different tasks given to both levels of students

2.  Blind spots in the kitchen preventing lecturers from having a clear view of all of the students, thus constituting a high risk level.

3. Some of the students at Foundation level after raising the query with the management have been found to need an LSE or learning coach.

4. Foundation students have no basic training and cannot be expected from the outset to prepare, cook and present a high end level of cuisine.

5. The Management has copied the programme from the Paul Bocuse Institute, but the curriculum is not the same and not in line with the said institution.

 

6. The ‘programme co-ordinator’ amended some of the descriptions on the Runway and Voyage menus at Certificate level, without even realising that there was a scaffolding of learning outcomes included, some of which were amended some time ago. 

UPE failing to get academics’ support and reissues the same directives in a state of panic – MUT reaction

The Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) meanwhile issued their own reaction to the UPE’s press conference, saying that after failing to get ITS lecturers to follow their “illegal directives”, the UPE announced new directives whilst failing to mention that their directives which had been in place for several days and were followed by less than a handful of staff.

“The UPE is issuing directives across the board as if it represents the collective membership at ITS when this is not the case. The MUT is the sole recognised union for academic staff at ITS and holds ongoing meetings with management to safeguard the interests of its members,” the union said.

It continued that therefore directives issued by UPE at ITS are illegal as they tackle collective matters and not individual ones. Furthermore, they amount to strike, leaving the handful of lecturers following such directives at great risk.

“The quoted reference by UPE in the MUT-ITS collective agreement, which regulates unannounced industrial action, is not at all unconstitutional, because contrary to what UPE seems to be stating, it regulates both the trade union and employer in addressing their differences through social dialogue measures before resorting to respective actions. The same clause has been in place for years and is found in most collective agreements of trade unions. It is clear that in a state of panic, UPE resorts to all measures to provide misinformation to justify its operations,” the MUT added.