The Union of Professional Educators (UPE) has gone to court seeking to revoke an Industrial Tribunal decision preventing it from representing learning support educators (LSEs).   

The union has filed constitutional proceedings against the State Advocate, the Director General for Educational Services and the director of the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations (DIER) saying it represents the majority of LSEs in State schools.

It had sought official recognition so as to be able to assist its members in collective bargaining procedures but the Directorate for Educational Services objected.

The UPE registered an industrial dispute and the matter was referred to the Industrial Tribunal. The tribunal ordered the DIER to verify whether the union actually represented the majority of LSEs employed by the state. That fact was subsequently confirmed.

However, in June the tribunal concluded that LSEs could not be considered as a ‘separate bargaining unit’ from other categories of educators and they were covered by the collective agreement signed between the directorate and the Malta Union of Teachers.

Lawyers Therese Comodini Cachia and Jason Azzopardi, representing the UPE said the tribunal's decision not only violated the union’s right to represent the majority of LSEs in the collective bargaining procedure but the tribunal was neither independent nor impartial.

All three members on the tribunal, namely Harold Walls, lawyer Bryony Belzia Bartolo and Lawrence Mizzi, were appointed by government entities and held other public offices. This shed doubt upon their independence and impartiality.

Rather than negotiating a separate collective agreement for LSEs, the government was subjecting these educators to the current agreement negotiated by MUT which did not address the complaints and expectations of the UPE members.

The UPE is calling upon the First Hall, Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction, to declare that the tribunal's decision breached its right to freedom of assembly and association and that the process before the tribunal lacked impartiality.

The union also requested the court to revoke the tribunal's decision and to order the Director of Industrial and Employment Relations to recognize UPE as the main union representing LSEs.

Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Therese Comodini Cachia signed the application.