Update 2 - Sliema schools start an hour late as teachers strike over parking restrictions

The streets outside the five schools in Sliema were unusually quiet this morning as teachers stayed away in protest over the timed parking scheme introduced by the locality's local council. The hour-long strike led to most parents also opting to send their children to school an hour late, although the vans were bringing other pupils on time as usual. They were kept in school grounds. The industrial action was ordered by the Malta Union of Teachers. It said in a statement late yesterday that talks with the local council had failed to yield an agreement. The union said Transport Minister Joe Mizzi had also met the union's officials about the situation and he would be holding talks with all stakeholders in the locality including the local council itself. MUT President Kevin Bonello told timesofmalta.com this morning that the strike was a complete success and he augured that a solution could be found to the impasse.  In a statement, the union appealed to the government and Transport Malta to intervene for a solution to be found. It said it felt it was not acceptable for councils to be allowed to use legal notices to implement parking schemes without even having the obligation to...