Court of Appeal rejects State's application for stay of ruling in GTU fees deduction case

The Court of Appeal has rejected the State’s application to stay a ruling by Justice Sandil Kissoon, mandating the continuation of deductions of union dues and their remittance to the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU).

The decision is being seen as a significant victory for the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU).

In a statement, Attorney for the GTU, Darren Wade, said in delivering the ruling of the Court, Appeal Justice, Dawn Gregory, explained that the GTU would suffer undue prejudice if the stay was granted, adding that the balance of justice lies in favour of the Union.

GTU General Secretary, Coretta McDonald said the decision is a landslide victory, not only for the union but also for unionized workers across the country, and even the Caribbean.

McDonald said the decision puts to rest the notion that the 75-day GTU-led protest over better wages and involved thousands of teachers, was politically motivated.

“The Appeal Court today just like Justice Sandil Kissoon, in his ruling mentioned that all GTU did was to re-enforce an industrial practice that is so laid out in the laws of industrial relations. And so, this victory is for our teachers who stood out there for 75 days, for the citizens all across Guyana and in the diaspora, who were there with us, who helped us,” McDonald said.

Justice Kissoon initially granted an interim conservatory order on February 22, 2024. This order restrained the Government of Guyana from ceasing the deduction of union dues from the wages and salaries of GTU members and required their remittance to the Union. The order was made absolute by the same Judge on April 17, 2024 when the court delivered its ruling.

McDonald said despite the Court’s order, the State has failed to comply, refusing to deduct and remit the union dues as instructed for close to a year.

“They refused to do it; they refused to do that. We would have expected that after the Judge ruled, the dues would have been reinstated and while they were awaiting the appeal, and the grounds of the appeal, it would have continued but the Government refused to deduct and remit the dues,” the GTU General Secretary said.

Meanwhile, the Attorney said the ongoing defiance of Court orders, particularly by the Attorney General, is both contemptuous and an affront to the administration of justice. Such actions, he said, undermine public confidence in the judiciary.

“The Guyana Teachers’ Union is currently considering appropriate actions in response to this blatant disregard for judicial authority,” he said.

On his weekly television programme “Issues in the News” last evening, Attorney General Anil Nandlall said he was not surprised by the ruling, and has since advised the Cabinet that the Government doesn’t have a track record of winning cases in the Guyana Court of Appeal.

“Many, many authorities say that once you establish that you have good grounds of appeal and that your appeal has good prospects of success, that is enough, this judgement ought to find that the justice of the case did not merit a stay to be granted”, he argued, while criticizing the decision of the Court.

Meanwhile, the Opposition People’s National Congress has welcomed the ruling.

“This victory is an indication that justice has been served and that the strength, unity and resilience demonstrated by the teachers during those seventy-five (75) days were grounded in the laws that are enshrined in our constitution. We must note too that despite the clear judicial directives, the PPP/C Government has continued to ignore the order, thus refusing to reinstate the deduction and remittance of the dues to the Union. This blatant disregard of the law in full public view demonstrated by the PPP/C is simply saying that the PPP/C believes that they are the law or that they are above the law, which is contrary to how democratic governments operate. This must act must not be taken lightly,” the PNCR said in a statement.