Following extensive discussions held with the Education Minister Clifton Grima and significant progress registered in negotiations as reported the members, the MUT shall be suspending all the directives at MCAST with effect from Tuesday 18 February 2025 and until the end of February 2025.

This shall enable further negotiations to conclude the MCAST Collective Agreement, the MUT said in a statement Friday.

The union and the government have long been at loggerheads over a renewal of the collective agreement, which expired around three years ago. The union ordereda number of directives over the length of time negotiations were taking.

A number of protests by staff, as well as by students, have also taken place. At the end of last year there were back and forth arguments being made between the union and the government, and negotiations had stalled.