The Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin has issued a series of directives directed at administrative, technical, and industrial staff at the University of Malta following challenges in collective agreement negotiations. 

Commencing on January 5th, employees are instructed to refrain from using communication devices across the university campus, encompassing fixed landlines, emails, letters, SMS, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom.

Additionally, staff members are advised against organizing classrooms, recording meeting minutes, or handling the scanning and photocopying of documents. 

These directives come as a response to delays in finalizing a new collective agreement, as the previous agreement lapsed in December 2021. The union states that, given the circumstances and the lack of an official response, including the resumption of negotiations, they had no alternative but to issue these directives.

Affecting various university roles such as managers, child carers, periti, engineers, scientific officers, handypersons, messengers, dental surgery assistants, library workers, laboratory officers, psychologists, counsellors, social workers, technicians, IT and administration personnel, among others, these directives serve as a form of protest and leverage in the ongoing negotiations.

Directives include no communication by telephone or from the offices and various sites of the University by email, messages and/or letters, no taking minutes during meetings, no scanning or photocopying, no preparation of coffee for meetings, no arrangement of classes, no 8pm shifts, no Zoom/Teams/in-person meetings and much more. 

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