Transparency? I don't think so.

First they try to drag the entire country and student population into supporting their call for better pay and conditions. Then when they reach an agreement with the university administration, they keep the details secret. What? This is unbelievable.

The Times, Thursday, 22 January

Details of lecturers’ deal kept under wraps

The much-debated collective agreement for university and junior college lecturers was signed yesterday, although details on the contended salaries were not revealed.

The agreement’s signatories described it as a “reform” that sets the ball rolling for the necessary changes in the roles and responsibilities of academic staff and strengthens the future of the University of Malta.

However, the public will remain in the dark as to the details of the reform because the University preferred not to reveal details “at this stage”, a spokesman said when asked for a copy of the agreement.

The agreement, backdated to January 1 and valid until December 2013, broadly tackles working hours, intellectual property rights for research carried out at the University and improved wages, which was the main bone of contention in the dispute. It extends the working day by three hours to 8 p.m. in order to accommodate working people who wish to pursue their studies, introduces a research stream to promote research among staff and places research output as a criteria for promotions. University council president David Attard said this was a “historic occasion” because, apart from the financial aspect, the agreement would improve and incentivise research.

The president of the Malta Union of Teachers, John Bencini and the president of the University of Malta Academic Staff Association, Victor Buttigieg agreed the reform was not limited to salaries and working conditions. “Three quarters of the discussions were focused on what the University needs to do better,” Mr Bencini said, adding this was the place that generated good quality human resources, a vital asset to the country. Dr Buttigieg said the agreement would serve as a road map to move forward: “I’m not saying it’s perfect but it will serve as a solid basis to strengthen the University”. Both Dr Buttigieg and Mr Bencini thanked the Rector for his involvement in the negotiations.

Rector Juanito Camilleri said that since he took over nearly three years ago, it was clear that if the University were to move ahead, the new collective agreement could not be designed on the expired one.

This collective agreement was a “fundamental reform”, one of the three things needed to prepare for the future allowing the University to compete with the international market. The other two were changes to the Education Act and the generation of revenue.

Asked why he had remained silent throughout the negotiations, Prof. Camilleri said it was due to the sensitive nature of the issue, especially because he was acting as a “mediator”. He denied that his salary was tackled in the agreement and said his pay was set by the university council.

The agreement comes after months of heated negotiations and disputes between the lecturers’ unions, the University and the government, which had been deadlocked over the financial package of the new collective agreement that would replace the one that expired in December 2003.

After a one-day strike on October 30 failed to budge the government, practically all the 178 lecturers rejected the first financial package offered.

On December 5, unions instructed their members to work to rule and, a few weeks later, they stepped up their action and ordered academic staff to withhold all end-of-semester examination papers and any results related to continuous assessment.

This sparked off a students’ rally. The next day, the unions and the government met and, after three days of intense discussions, in the presence of the director of the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations, an agreement was struck