The government body responsible for negotiating collective agreements is under-resourced, the PN said on Thursday, a few days after the Malta Union of Teachers declared its mistrust in the Industrial Relations Unit. 

The Industrial Relations Unit (IRU) does not have enough resources to address the needs of the nation, the opposition said. 

The IRU represents the public sector and government entities in collective bargaining negotiations with unions.  

In a letter to union members earlier this week, officials said the IRU is not committed to concluding MUT agreements on time and to the satisfaction of the union and its members. 

PN social dialogue shadow minister Ivan Castillo said the IRU is practically only composed of two people, who must oversee an exaggerated number of collective agreements.  

The government must address the challenges in this unit to keep up with its workload and not let collective agreement negotiations fall behind schedule, he said. 

Education shadow minister Justin Schembri said the PN is concerned that the teacher’s sectoral agreement has still not been finalised. Collective agreements with MCAST and ITS lecturers are also delayed, he said.  

The PN believes that working conditions and salaries should improve, he said.  

The new teacher sectoral agreement came to a head last November when the MUT declared a one-day strike, along with a slate of directives.  

Last month, Education Minister Clifton Grima told the media that the collective agreement for state and church school educators was still being discussed and was set to be concluded "in the coming weeks”. 

PN youth spokesperson Bernice Bonello said students are also impacted, citing how Mcast students walked out of their lecture room on Tuesday after being told their annual exams would not be held due to invigilators' absence.