
Attorney General Anil Nandlall is not happy by yesterday’s ruling of Appeal Court Judge, Justice Dawn Gregory, who 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).
Mr. Nandlall now intends to further appeal the matter.
On his “Issues in the News” programme last night, he said in addition to having a strong case, a previous precedence was set in a similar case by the Court of Appeal and therefore he contends that the ruling should have gone in the State’s Favour.
“I am not surprised by the ruling and I have advised the Cabinet, the Government doesn’t have a track record of winning cases in the Guyana Court of Appeal, I am not casting any aspersions but if you check the statistics, they will bear out that statement,” Mr, Nandlall said.
Last February, the Government took a decision that it will no longer continue to deduct union dues from the salaries of teachers on behalf of their union. The move came in the height of strike action that had been called by the Guyana Teachers Union for increased salaries.
While the State has appealed the entire decision of Justice Sandil Kissoon, it was seeking to have this particular aspect of the Union fees deduction and remittance set aside. The Attorney General contends that there is no duty in law that tells the Government that it must perform that service to the Guyana Teachers Union or any union.
“The Government is now being saddled with a responsibility and a duty now in law to collect Union dues and pay it over to the union from members of the union, that is the union business. How can you compel a government to do that and I thought that the law was clear, since this matter was earlier settled in the Nanda Gopaul case,” the Attorney General stated.
The GTU has said it will challenge the non-compliance of the order of the Court which was made since last February.
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