What happened on... January 16

10 years ago - The Times
Friday, January 16, 2009

Lecturers approve collective agreement
University of Malta and Junior College academic staff yesterday approved a draft collective agreement, ending their long-drawn dispute with the government.
The agreement was approved by a large margin following a three-hour extraordinary meeting, with 191 of the 225 members present voting in favour, 30 against and four invalidating their vote. The draft was presented to members by the University of Malta Academic Staff Association (Umasa).
The deal comes after three days of intense discussions between Umasa, the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) and the university in the presence of the director of the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations, Noel Vella, who acted as a mediator.
Details of the agreement could not be obtained yesterday but it 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.
Umasa president Victor Buttigieg said the union was very satisfied with the agreement. “It is a very wide ranging agreement and the members realised that it was very...