Teachers’ union UPE claims court victory

Fledgling teachers’ union UPE has hailed a court judgment overturning a warrant of prohibitory injunction filed against them by the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) as a victory.

The injunction against the Union of Professional Educators to prevent it from intervening in collective agreement talks for LSE2-type teachers followed a judicial protest filed by the MUT.

But the UPE defied the MUT’s request and persisted in issuing directives to members of the teaching profession despite not being officially recognised by the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations, Education Department, the Commission for Education of the Maltese Episcopal Conference, the Secretariat for Catholic Education and entities responsible for private schools.

In a judgment handed down yesterday morning, Mr Justice Joseph Zammit Mackeon held that it had not been proven that the UPE had usurped any of the MUT’s rights.

The court observed that, essentially, the MUT had complained that the UPE’s actions had weakened its negotiating strategy. But this had remained a “subjective opinion,” it said, without testimony to back it up.

Even if this were true, said the court, the MUT had no right to interfere or hold back the work of the UPE in favour of those workers who had sought its help.

“If the issue is one of strategy or timing, therefore, it is up to the MUT to move or act in anticipation by adjusting its strategy according to the circumstances. Sometimes strategy must change from one day to the other, if not from one hour to the next. This does not mean that confusion has been created, as alleged by the MUT.”

The court said it found no objective prima facie basis for the injunction, which had been provisionally granted, and overturned it.