Teachers’ salaries will be deducted in full if Court rules in favour of Govt. – Jagdeo

Mar 01, 2024 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News

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Kaieteur News – Teachers’ salaries will be deducted in full should the court rule in favour of the Government of Guyana in the ongoing stalemate with the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU), Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said on Thursday.

The Vice President was at the time speaking at his weekly press conference hosted at Freedom House, Robb Street, Georgetown.

“We believe based on what we have seen… the precedent… that this matter will be determined in favour of the principle that has long been established and the deductions will, if taken at that time, will be harsher for the teachers,” Jagdeo confidently told reporters.

This is the fourth week of countrywide teachers’ strike and protest.

Jagdeo said that the Government does not believe “that the established process under the law and under the employer, employee relationship through the Collective Bargaining Agreement has been exhausted as outlined by the Chief Labour Officer.”

The Vice President reminded reporters that the substantive case before the High Court has not yet been heard and that the judge only issued an interim order and provided dates for the submission of documents.

“So the Union did not through their lawyer win any case, there was no hearing. It just went to the judge, they presented their arguments, we asked to be heard. The judge said you will get an opportunity to do that at a later time. So we intend to follow the interim order,” Jagdeo said.

He continued: “The order says that we should not deduct monies from those who are striking at this point in time, pending the hearing of the case. We don’t know what the outcome will be but to make it clear, we will continue to collect information on those who are absenting themselves from the classroom…somehow this order was conceived in some quarters and the union has actively peddled that you will be paid even if you don’t work.”

The Vice President also told reporters that the government has been advised by a number of its lawyers, including the Attorney General, that there is no support for “principle where you don’t work and you will be paid.”

“In fact, the laws of Guyana confirm if you don’t work, you will not be paid. The advisors they shared with us case history from the Privy Council which upheld that principle: no work, no pay. Explicitly put by the highest court for many Caribbean jurisdictions… the Privy Council is the highest and so we have precedent to this already,” Jagdeo disclosed.

On Wednesday, Chief Education Officer (CEO), Saddam Hussain was hauled before the High Court to face contempt proceedings for issuing a directive which stated that teachers will face a pay cut despite an interim court order in place instructing the Government not to do so.

On Tuesday Hussain disseminated a memorandum to the Regional Education Officers (REOs) within the eleven public school districts instructing them to continue collecting data on attendance of teachers during the strike.  He noted that orders made by Justice Sandil Kissoon are temporary and essentially when the final order is made, the data will be used to determine salaries of those absentee teachers.

The CEO emphasized in the memo that “Government of Guyana will not pay teachers for the days which they did not work.”

When he appeared before Justice Kissoon on Wednesday to face the contempt proceedings, Hussain apologised profusely and gave the court a commitment that the directive to the REOs would be rescinded within an hour of the conclusion of the contempt hearing. The memo was rescinded and a new one was issued.

For his part, Justice Kissoon noted that Hussain’s instructions to REOs were in direct conflict with his interim orders, so much so that it can be viewed as being geared towards bringing the administration of justice into disrepute. The judge noted that the issuance of the memorandum to the REOs was done with full knowledge that an order of the court was “in force and in effect.”

Justice Kissoon noted that the fact that Hussain made reference to his interim orders in his memo, speaks to an attempt of willful disobedience to the orders, an attempt to interfere, prejudice, preempt the decision of the Court and bring the administration of justice into disrepute.

It was pointed out that as a penalty, a person can face a fine not exceeding $250,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months for contempt. The Judge called upon the CEO to show cause why he should not be held in contempt for his actions. In his response to the court, Hussain said it was never his intention to disrespect the judge or the court.

“It was never my intention or the Ministry of Education’s intension of cutting anybody’s salary…until this is resolved,” he said. He admitted that having read the order of the court, that the last paragraph of the memo was “poorly” worded. “I should have consulted with the Attorney General …before the circular was disseminated, it was never my intention to bring this court into disrepute or to have any kind of say while the matter is ongoing,” Hussain said accepting full blame for his actions. “I will take all the blame…it was not intentional or malicious,” Hussain emphasised.

Last Thursday, Justice Sandil Kissoon granted a temporary order blocking the Government of Guyana from deducting the salaries of striking teachers. The High Court judge also granted an interim order which restrains the Government from withholding the remittance of teachers’ dues to the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU). The judge made the orders at the first hearing of the case filed by the GTU to challenge the Government’s decision to deduct pay from the salaries of striking teachers and also blocking the administration from moving ahead with a decision to discontinue the deduction of union dues from the salaries of teachers on behalf of the Union until the determination of the full case which the GTU brought against the government.

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• deductions, harsh, Jagdeo, pay, Union

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