THE Government of Guyana (GOG), on Wednesday, moved to the Court of Appeal seeking to overturn the controversial ruling favouring the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) by High Court Judge, Sandil Kissoon.
Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney-General, Anil Nandlall, S.C., during his programme “Issues in the News” on Tuesday, disclosed that after waiting for a month, copies of 134-page ruling delivered by Justice Kissoon was finally handed over.
“The way is now absolutely clear for us to proceed with the appeal and the application for a stay of execution,” Nandlall said.
In his ruling on April 19, Justice Kissoon held that the teachers’ strike was legitimate since collective bargaining between the Ministry of Education and the union had not been properly undertaken.
Nandlall had previously voiced serious worries about the legal validity of the ruling and expressed concerns about the potential consequences it could have on future labour relations.
He vehemently labelled the decision as “bad in law,” stressing its profound impact on the nation’s educational landscape and broader labour dynamics.
Earlier this month, the GTU resumed its call for industrial action. However, the Government of Guyana reaffirmed its commitment and said that it is ready to continue engagement with the union on the Multi-Year Agreement from 2024 onwards.
This was according to the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Shannielle Hoosein-Outar, who, in correspondence to the President of the Union, Mark Lyte, said that the ministry was surprised at the proposed continuation of industrial action.
In March, the GTU and the Education Ministry met to continue the collective bargaining process, which was halted due to a strike in February.
During the meeting, the ministry supported the government’s stance that talks about salary increases should only begin in 2024 and beyond.
The Permanent Secretary explained that increases for the prior years would have financial implications and the 2024 budget does not have the fiscal space to facilitate the retroactive payment of salaries for teachers during the period of 2019 to 2023.
As such, the Union representatives were asked to submit a proposal to the ministry that would capture their request for a multi-year agreement commencing 2024.
That meeting reached an impasse as GTU indicated that they were only interested in discussing salaries between the 2019 to 2023 period. The representatives of the Union further abandoned the process and walked out of the meeting.
The strike was finally ended on March 4, 2024, through court-mediated negotiations led by Senior Counselors Edward Luckhoo and Robin Stoby.
Despite the Ministry of Education meeting over half of the 41 proposals made by the GTU for improved working conditions within just three years, the teachers still went on strike.
Government officials had also challenged the union’s claims by highlighting that discussions were ongoing to satisfy the other requests. Since the requirements for conducting a strike were not satisfied, the government had declared that the strike action was illegal.
The GTU’s action against the government, with the GTUC joining as an intervener, focused on the legality of teachers being able to refuse work while still receiving pay as a means of protest or negotiation.
In his decision, the judge stated that there was evidence to show that the government failed to engage the union in collective bargaining, unilaterally forced salary hikes on teachers, and snubbed or rebuffed the union’s “every attempt” to negotiate collectively, as envisaged by Article 147 (3) of the Guyana Constitution, which states that neither an employer nor a trade union shall be denied the right to enter into collective agreements.
The court directed the government to compensate the GTU with $500,000 in expenses and the GTUC with $750,000 in expenses.
