Industrial Tribunal decision on duties of University and Junior College academic staff

The Industrial Tribunal has communicated its decision in the case instituted by UMASA against the University on its claim for sole representation of the academic staff members employed by the University, who are appointed by the University Council and attached by the council to a faculty, institute or centre of the University that is involved primarily in education and research at degree level or beyond.

A copy of this decision may be downloaded from http://soc.um.edu.mt/umasa/IndustrialTribunal.pdf.

The Industrial Tribunal has unequivocally decided that there are important differences between academic members of staff at the University attached to faculties, institutes or centres and teachers attached to the Junior College and that it would be beneficial for academic members of staff at the University to have different working conditions than those at the Junior College.

So much so that the parties that drew up the current collective agreement were chastised for not having analysed these differences and for not having taken these differences into account.

These two points should normally be enough to determine that a section of workers, in this case the University academic staff, constitute a distinct bargaining unit and that may have separate representation.

The Industrial Tribunal has stopped short of immediately assigning sole recognition to UMASA for academic members of staff attached to faculties, institutes or centres. But it has instructed the University to include UMASA in all industrial relations discussions with the MUT with immediate effect.

The MUT can now no longer claim sole recognition at the University as it has been doing and UMASA has to be involved by right in all discussions connected with industrial relations of academic staff. Even more importantly, it has now been established that different working conditions can and should apply to University academic staff.

The UMASA council is studying the implications of this decision carefully. An extraordinary general meeting will be announced shortly, and will focus on a discussion of these latest developments with UMASA members.