For the second consecutive year, the MUT teamed up with the Floriana Local Council to celebrate the Union's 106th anniversary. The activity, held on the eve of the anniversary, started with mass at Sarria Church, followed by a flower laying ceremony at the MUT monument situated at the Mall gardens in Floriana. A reception was held at the Floriana Local Council.
MUT officials, the MUT council, the Retired Educators Section and MUT staff attended the celebration together with the Mayor of Floriana Nigel Holland accompanied by local council members. Minister Clifton Grima, Shadow Minister Justin Schembri and Permanent Secretary Matthew Vella participated in the event.
The union has several links with Floriana since it was founded at the Floriana Primary School and it has its monument at the Mall Gardens. The monument was erected in 2019 to celebrate MUT's 100th anniversary and was sculpted and cast in bronze by artist Chris Ebejer with a dedicated incision by the late Prof Oliver Friggieri. A number of former Presidents including the undersigned were born in Floriana.
The Malta Union of Teachers is the eldest trade union in Malta but is not the first one. Trade union activity in Malta started in the late 19th Century. The first trade union was part of the Benefit Societies emerging at the time and was initially called the Fitters Union, although it changed its name a number of times. It was established in 1884 by Dockyard fitters. There were a number of unions at the time but Malta Union of Teachers is the only survivor of the initial trade union movement.
Coincidentally, its establishment in 1919 coincided with the foundation of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in the same year. The MUT like all initial trade unions operated without any legal framework. Official recognition by Maltese authorities was given to the MUT and subsequently to other trade unions after 1943. The MUT is also the first registered union, bearing the registration number RTU-001.
The year 1919 was a particular one not only due to the Sette Giugno riots in Malta. It was a period, which led to the setting up of a number of movements and organisations. The spark that led to the teacher's movement was caused by a decision to increase salaries of civil service employees - leaving out teachers. Teachers organised themselves and assembled at the Floriana Primary school on 19 November 1919.
Over 500 teachers attended the meeting, led by Antonio Galea and which was addressed by a small group of teachers who eventually became the first union committee. Joseph Giordano, who served as the headmaster of Floriana Primary School was elected the first MUT President. Rogantino Cachia was elected the first Secretary and Antonio Galea opted to continue his work as 'Organiser' of the union. Within the first few weeks over 600 of a complement of 700 teachers joined the union.
As expected, the first task of the new union was to bring about salary increases following the updated salaries of the civil service. The MUT had to seek alliances including with the British National Union of Teachers owing to Malta' colonial ruling. It took several years for the MUT to manage to obtain an increase in salaries of teachers. The union retained its statutory name since its foundation. For a short period from the late 1970s, the union had to remove 'Malta' from its name due to the direction of the government. It was called the Movement of United Teachers for some years and it eventually regained its statutory name with a change in government.
The MUT brought about significant changes in the conditions of works of educators across all sectors. The latest sectoral and collective agreements signed by the union brought about significant improvements in conditions and financials and have been praised by all. Although the MUT was always the largest trade union for the education sector in Malta, it was not the only union. A number of unions were set up and dissolved along the years, some of which were splinter unions. The latest one is the UPE - a splinter union established in the last few years. Incidentally, the MUT has just won a libel in court against this union at the appeals stage, with the court declaring that statements made by the UPE during negotiations of the sectoral agreement were defamatory. The court ordered financial compensation to MUT. It is yet another clear example that throughout these years, the MUT braved them all!
Marco Bonnici is president of the Malta Union of Teachers