The Union of Professional Educators will not be joining a rival union's call for its members to go on strike on November 27.

UPE chief Graham Sansone said its roughly 3,000 members who are educators will not be subject to strike directives, saying the Malta Union of Teachers was simply trying to "assert its relevance".    

“For the union, 27 November will be business as usual,” head Graham Sansone told journalists during a press conference on Saturday morning.  

On Friday, the MUT ordered a nationwide strike later this month, due to a pay dispute between the union and the government.

The MUT is the country's largest education union and represents over 10,000 educators across the country. 

Its leadership said that aside from the planned November 27 strike, the union would also be announcing a series of directives to its members, set to come into effect next Monday.

Education Minister Clifton Grima has said that negotiations for a new collective agreement remain ongoing but declined to disclose details of what the government is offering to pay teachers and other educators.  

UPE head Graham Sansone said its members will not be striking on November 27. Photo: Giulia Magri

UPE issues with strike action

The MUT has said that it ordered the strike after the government offered two “insulting” financial packages to educators.

The UPE, however, said the dispute in reality concerns working conditions and allowances, not teachers' basic salary. 

“The basic salary will remain unchanged until the end of 2024, as it is a separate agreement between all trade unions and the State,” he said. 

“Inside rumours suggest that the MUT has already accepted the financial proposals offered by the State and that this strike is merely a demonstration of power for the MUT and its President to assert their relevance."

Sansone asked for the MUT to explain why educators have been called to strike.

"MUT has not provided any of its council members a copy of the discussed text, so no one knows the reason for the strike," he said. 

"Is it over a €50, €100, or €1000 yearly allowance? What issues during negotiations have not been agreed on? Can the MUT leadership clarify what the government has proposed and what the MUT expected?"

Sansone said educators have a responsibility to seek further clarification and to exercise their critical thinking to understand the reason behind the strike. 

"One cannot blindly follow self-centered leaders into losing a day's salary without knowing the exact reason for the strike," he said, criticising what he termed a "lack of transparency" surrounding MUT negotiations. 

Sansone argued that the MUT was facing a leadership crisis, with role for union vice-president, secretary-general and one assistant secretary-general all vacant. 

The UPE chief also accused the rival union of negotiating an "illegitimate agreement" for Learning Support Educators, as the UPE represents most of them and should therefore be the union tasked with negotiating on their behalf.

"The UPE reserves the right not to acknowledge any agreed-upon text related to the conditions of work for LESEs," he concluded.