The Malta Union of Teachers said Saturday it has filed libel proceedings in court after the “latest defamatory article” was published by the Union of Professional Educators and “which was the subject of a press conference” carried out by the UPE last Saturday.

UPE is not part of negotiations of the sectoral/collective agreement but this does not give it the right to issue defamatory statements about MUT and its leadership, MUT said in a statement.

Similarly UPE cannot issue defamatory statements regarding the negotiations process which is currently being carried out between MUT and the Government.

“Acting as a strike breaker and trying to derail negotiations is clearly condemnable, but fabricating and spreading defamatory statements breaches the law and will not be tolerated by MUT. MUT shall continue to take all actions to safeguard its integrity,” the union said.

MUT has ordered a teachers’ strike for 27 November, with the UPE saying that its members will not participate.