Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/989894
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 JUNE 2018 PAUL COCKS A number of teachers are plan- ning to file constitutional cases in a bid to recoup thousands of Euros they lost in salaries when they left a posting and moved to a new school prior to changes being introduced in 2013, Mal- taToday has learned. Teachers in Malta – as in other countries – benefit from yearly salary increases to reflect their experience and career pro- gression. But before a so-called bridg- ing agreement came into force in 2013, teachers who moved from one government school to another were stripped of their career record and had to start their new post on the lowest sal- ary scale established. Teachers at primary, lower secondary and upper second- ary level currently start their career with a basic statutory gross salary of €18,254, which – through length of service – can reach a maximum of €23,997. A European Commission Eury- dice study found that length of service for Maltese teachers to reach the highest base salary is 18 years. As of 2013, teachers no longer lose their career records when they move from one govern- ment school posting to another, and therefore start their new as- signments at their current level of seniority and salary cap. In 2015, the Maltese Courts found in favour of a teacher who had filed a case to recover the money he claimed to have lost after moving from a govern- ment school to another in 2006. The court agreed the teacher should have had the 12 years ex- perience recognised even after transferring to a new school and that the teacher should have been employed at the new post at the salary level including the accumulated annual increases. It awarded the claimant €22,000 in arrears. MaltaToday is informed that a number of teachers in inde- pendent schools are now pre- paring to take the matter to court, after not having their prior experience recognised when they moved to their cur- rent posting. Barbara*, a secondary school teacher at an independent school in central Malta, said that she moved to her new post- ing in 2014, after having already taught in government schools for nine years. "I admit that I knew that my prior experience would not be recognised when I transferred, but the loss in salary, as well as the seniority, still hurts me to this day," she said. Stephen and Paula*, colleagues in a Church school in the south of Malta, agreed. "By my calculations, I have lost over €30,000 in salary since moving to my current posting nine years ago," said Stephen, who has been a teacher for more than 20 years. The three teachers are among a number who are preparing to take their case to court, in the hope of recouping the wages lost after transferring to new schools. But Marco Bonnici, presi- dent of the Malta Union of Teachers, said that the situa- tion is not as dire as some may be thinking. He acknowledged how the situation changed in 2013, after the bridging agreement was implemented. "After that agreement was reached, teachers who trans- ferred to a new posting had their experience recognised and therefore retained their wage level when they moved to a new school," he said. Bonnici said that many teachers who had transferred prior to 2013 had complained at having had to start at the minimum wage level in their new posting. The MUT had taken the matter to heart and included the issue in its negotiations with the government for a new collective agreement. "In fact, under the new col- lective agreement signed in December, the government agreed to recognise the experi- ence of teachers who changed their posting even prior to 2013 and the teachers' wage levels were revised to reflect to ac- cumulated career experience," Bonnici said. He said the union, and the government, had been working to reach a mobility agreement with Church and independent schools, to ensure teachers did not lose any wages or benefits when they transferred from a public school to an independent or church institution, or vice versa. "I am pleased to say that an agreement has just been reached with the Church schools on a mobility agreement that will ensure teachers are not stripped of their experience when they move to a new posting," he said. "The last hold-outs are inde- pendent schools, but we are working hard to bring them on board as well." Until then, and in the absence of class actions in Malta, teach- ers at independent schools are, in the meantime, left with no recourse but to seek individual court redress in a bid to recover thousands of Euros in lost wag- es. And if the chatter on a particu- lar Facebook group is anything to go by, these teachers will not be standing down anytime soon. pcocks@mediatoday.com.mt NEWS EU FUND SUPPORT OFFICER Applications are invited for the positions of EU Fund Support Officer in the Ministry for European Affairs and Equality. Applications will be received at the Corporate Services Directorate, Ministry for European Affairs and Equality, 31B, Tal-Pilar, Marsamxett Road, Valletta, VLT 1850 by not later than noon of Monday, 18 th June 2018. Further details may be obtained from the Government Gazette of 1 st June 2018. Application forms may be downloaded from: https://publicservice.gov.mt/en/people/Pages/PeopleResourcingandComp liance/FormsandTemplates.aspx Application forms may be downloaded from: http://pahro.gov.mt/file.aspx?f=127 Position may be co-funded through European Union Funding/Bilateral Funds Private schools' teachers lose out on thousands over recognition dispute Teachers say they have lost thousands of Euros in salaries when they moved to a new school prior to changes being introduced in 2013 that stripped off their career record JAMES DEBONO THE Malta Tourism Author- ity is planning a pilot project for a 20m-wide beach total- ing 900 square metres at Bal- luta Bay, through the recov- ery of 4,200 cubic metres of sand from the bay's seabed. The project will be aimed at providing a temporary beach for the summer months. The beach will be replen- ished by dredging sand from the beach itself, pumping out the sand onto the beach, and allowing it to settle while the beach is enlarged. The op- erations need to follow strict rules to avoid pumping out excessive amounts of sand that would lead to craters on the seabed. The Environment and Re- sources Authority has ex- empted the project requiring an Environment Impact As- sessment because no signifi- cant impacts are expected. The proposed re-nourish- ment involves only a small volume of sand which will be pumped from the seabed. Since the dredging will be diver-operated, seagrass beds present in the area will not be disturbed. The extension will not last into the winter, because the beach would be under the action of waves and currents and rainwater run-off from land. It is only after the dis- appearance of the beach that the feasibility of undertaking the re-nourishment exercise on a regular basis will be evaluated. Balluta Bay only retains a very small and restricted sandy beach, which fluctu- ates from year to year. In the past the beach used to replenish naturally through discharge from the Balluta and Wied Ghomor valleys. But this process was inter- rupted by the construction of roads and other coastal infra- structure. Balluta beach to be extended for summer months