The UHM Voice of the Workers has issued a series of directives for administrative, technical, and industrial workers at the University of Malta, which will come into effect tomorrow, 5 January.

In a statement on Thursday, the union said that it initiated this move as a result of an industrial dispute recorded on 27 November of last year. The issue arose after both the University's administration and the Ministry of Education continued to drag its feet on the finalisation of the renewed collective agreement for these workers, which had expired since December 2021, the union said.

In light of these circumstances and the fact that no official response was received while negotiations were ongoing, the UHM said that it had no other option but to order the following directives, which will be implemented from tomorrow, 5 January, 2024:

No communication will take place via phone (landline or mobile) from the University's offices and various locations. Childcare workers may leave voicemails but will not answer calls.

No communication will take place via email, messages (verbal and non-verbal), SMS, or letters from the University's offices and various locations, and no communication will take place via other means such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or any other platform.

Workers following the directives will also not take minutes during meetings, and no scanning and photocopying services will be provided.

The union ordered for no use of camera equipment, electronic devices, or other items, and no preparations will be made for any type of events.

Staff are also not to prepare coffee for meetings, and not carry out any arrangements for classrooms.

The union also issued directives with regards to the Health and Wellness of the worker. It ordered that no shifts will be worked beyond 8pm (not including appointments scheduled with clients outside of working hours, which are before 8am or after 5pm by agreement with the professional).

No Teams/Zoom meetings or in-person meetings will take place.

The union ordered that the gardener is to start doing manual work at 8am (but will report for work at the regular time).

For Kindergarten and Childcare workers, the union ordered that there will be no planning of activities, and employees will not provide updates to parents via the Facebook page or Illumine.

Workers are also not to answer the phone, but messages can be left. There will also be no observation recorded in the logbook/journal for children.

The union also ordered for dental workers to reduce clinical sessions every day, and no scanning of X-Rays will be carried out.

The collective agreement of the University of Malta covers a large number of workers, including managers, child carers, architects, engineers, scientific officers, handypersons, messengers, dental surgery assistants, library workers, laboratory officers, psychologists, counsellors, social workers, technicians, IT professionals, and administrative staff, among many others.

The UHM Voice of the Workers said that unless there is a breakthrough, the directives will be escalated.