The Malta Union of Teachers will be presenting to its members a second draft of a collective agreement it has reached with the government, in the hope that this time this will be the final step before the agreement is signed.

The members will be asked to vote on it next week, weeks after a first draft had not been welcomed and forced the union to stop the voting process and return to the negotiating table.

The agreement will determine conditions for educators in state and church schools.

Last May, during the election campaign, an agreement had been announced but it was later put on hold as teachers expressed their reservations on what the two sides had agreed.

The Malta Independent had revealed that teachers will not be getting any increase to their basic pay as they remain on the same pay scale, but will instead see their income increase through the improvement of allowances that they receive during the year.

On Thursday morning, the MUT said that discussions with the government have been concluded, and updates have been included in the new sectoral agreement text. No further details were given.

From Monday, the union will be holding meetings with teachers to share with them a copy of the agreement.

MUT educators will then have between Thursday and Saturday to vote on whether they approve of the latest version of the agreement.  

Negotiations over the agreement have been ongoing for months with the union ordering a one-day strike last November.

The government and the MUT are still to reach an agreement on MCAST lecturers. Industrial action at the college are still in place there.