University academics instructed to withhold exam results

Updated 9pm with KSU statement

Academics are being instructed to withhold exam and dissertation results, after academics’ trade union UMASA escalated its dispute over a new collective agreement with the University of Malta.

The two sides have been at odds for months. The union declared an industrial dispute in November, saying it had submitted its financial demands a year earlier but received no response.

Later that month, the union said that although it had finally received a proposal from the government, the terms were “far below” expectation. Escalating the dispute, the union called on members to stop taking part in administrative meetings.

In the days leading up to Christmas, the union said discussions with the government and university officials were showing some promise, leading it to suspend its directives “as a show of goodwill”.

However, this hope appears to have faded by mid-January, when the union told its members that the directives were being reinstated, saying it had been “waiting for a reply from government for over a week”.

The dispute took a new turn on Wednesday afternoon, with UMASA declaring that it had “not yet received an offer that sufficiently approaches our demands”, despite several meetings with the university and Education Minister Clifton Grima.

In light of the deadlock, the union said it was instructing members to assess and grade exams and dissertations, “but the final mark should be withheld and not sent to administration”.

The new directives come as students are sitting for exams, with the exam period running until February 6.

UMASA said the measures announced in its previous directives, namely not to organise or attend administrative meetings, will also remain in place.

Last year, the union’s president, Luciano Mule Stagno, told Times of Malta how the academics’ collective agreement had expired almost two years prior.

At the time, he described himself as “hopeful” that the matter would not escalate further and would have a minimal impact on students.

UMASA, which was formally recognised as a trade union in 2004, represents the majority of academics working at the university. The union was previously in charge of negotiating a collective agreement signed in 2009.

The union had issued similar directives, also withholding exam results from publication, in 2008, while in talks over that agreement. The two sides had eventually reached a deal in early 2009, after a series of meetings mediated by the Department of Industrial Relations.

Do not panic, KSU tells students

KSU on Wednesday urged students not to panic, as there was still time for a solution to be found between the parties before the effects were felt by pupils.

"All possible efforts are being explored by KSU, which is treating this situation as critical.

"The situation should not have reached this stage, and it is worrying that, once again, students have ended up in the middle of an industrial dispute. Students are innocent parties in all this."

KSU said in a statement that up until Wednesday, UMASA had opted for directives that did not directly impact students.

It said it deeply regretted the possibility that students could be adversely affected and would continue to undertake every possible action it could to pile pressure on all parties to find an amicable solution.