The government cannot accept the idea that MCAST lecturers work from home twice a week, as the Malta Union of Teachers is suggesting, journalists were told on Friday.

Neither can it accept that lecturers are paid €400 to prepare an examination paper for a re-sit for students who fail an exam.

Speaking to the media, Joyce Cassar, permanent secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister said the government was prepared to accept many of the proposals made by the union, but there are certain demands that it cannot agree with since they "exceeded their parameters", leading to an unsustainable system and a stark injustice with regards to other public officials.

The MUT has declared an industrial dispute with the government as talks on a new collective agreement, which is nearly three years overdue, have failed to come to a satisfactory conclusion. Students have held protests to demand that the matter is resolved as soon as possible. The government has now felt the need to offer complete information about the negotiations, and reveal what is being discussed and where it is not on the same page as the MUT.

Cassar said that the government refused to comply with the demand that lecturers are to be paid €400 to prepare papers for re-sits of students who failed an exam. This is because it cannot accept the principle that teachers are paid when their students fail.

The government also cannot accept the principle that lecturers, whose job is to be with students, work twice a week from home and that, worse than this, these days can be accumulated and used in other periods of the scholastic year.

Cassar said that the collective agreement would cover 620 workers, stressing that they are over principles and not the financial package. She said that the financial package itself passed without a hitch with no dissent from the union's side. She added that the financial package is fair and has raised lecturers up nearly by a scale.

Cassar stressed that, by policy, the government doesn't negotiate with unions when they issue directives. MCAST was an exception, and discussions have continued since the start of the scholastic year in spite of directives issued by the union. Progress has been achieved but the directives, which are negatively affecting students, have not been withdrawn.

Cassar said that the government's main priority is to defend the students from the directives which left them in a state of uncertainty with regards to their future. She pointed out that as negotiations went on the union always chose the workers over the students, so much so that when the government lobbied to decrease the directives the union showed "no mercy" to the students. 

She said that the students' interests comes first and it can never accept proposals that are not sustainable and add more difficulties to students and their families.

Cassar said that the government last week  closed agreements with at least 10 other unions who represent workers in the public service and whilst they remain open to discussion they are "fed up of seeing parents of MCAST students suffering"

Cassar said she believes that the majority of workers at MCAST are not happy with the state of affairs with certain demands being so unreasonable that they must be unaware of them.

"We hope that after we clarify our stance the workers of MCAST know what is being proposed. Ultimately, we want to close agreements and improve workers' conditions," she said.

Asked whether the government is prepared to take the matter to court, Cassar said the government is for now seeking other options to come to terms with the MUT. She said the government is open to further discussions, and again called for the directives to be withdrawn, as this is an essential step towards a solution.

She said unions should understand that the government has other sectors to deal with. "Other unions self-regulate with regards to principles and know that a change in one sector may affect another sector. So they are aware of the effect of social dialogue and give consideration to the general public." 

When further asked by The Malta Independent about the way forward and a prospective timeline, Cassar said, "the administration has found itself between two unions fighting for territory. We hope that speaking out will make the MCAST workers, and the general public, aware of how militant the demands are, with the students suffering for them."