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Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves speaking at the press conference in Kingstown on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2022.
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves speaking at the press conference in Kingstown on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2022.
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Those who think that educators who lost their jobs because they failed to take a COVID-19 vaccine would automatically vote against the Unity Labour Party should think again.

That was one of the points that the Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves made, on Tuesday, as he urged — yet again — teachers dismissed over the vaccine mandate to reapply for reemployment.

“This is another appeal. I see it says that I’m making this appeal that I’m doing this because I ‘fraid that when 2025 some the teachers will punish me. Is 90-something per cent of the teachers have taken the vaccine.

“They have a view too, you know. And you think that because somebody doesn’t take the vaccine, and they, by their choice, abandon their job, you think they’re necessarily going vote against Ralph? You think is a one-to-one relationship like that?” he told a press conference in Kingstown.

The government is encouraging unvaccinated teachers and other public sector workers who were dismissed over the CVID-19 vaccine mandate to apply for re-employment.

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These workers may be rehired under a regime that includes mandatory use of facial masks in the workplace, adequate physical spacing, and mandatory testing for COVID-19.

Some people have noted that in an Aug. 2 press release, Chief Personnel Officer Arlene Regisford-Sam said, “Employment of unvaccinated persons in the employment categories stated above may be on a contractual basis, initially.”

On Tuesday, Gonsalves explained why the employment might be on a contractual basis.

“There are some persons by their own articulation and their own conduct may be recalcitrant to take — they say yes they’re coming but they will take the test but when you employ them they don’t take the test. So then what you’d have to do, without some document where you undertake to do that, what you will do? You then have to … set up a tribunal, you go through the whole process. The Public Service Commission suspend them on half pay or whole pay. So, you think you have a teacher but you don’t have a teacher,” Gonsalves said.

“Man and woman could talk, you know, but I have to have a responsibility to the parents and the children of the country, the students,” he added.

13 replies on “Dismissed teachers not ‘necessarily going vote against’ me — PM”

  1. The viper will lie he pants off to fool and manipulate people again. He now realise that his position is unsustainable after Yugge, C. John, Cjea, Vaccine mandate, Gun violence at every turn, shady quarry dealings, and ripping off relief funds is so in every body face. You can’t fool all the people all the time. Ralph bwoi crappo smoke yo pipe dis time.

  2. The governments across the nations who used COVID to implement unlawful laws to force civil servants out of their jobs are opportunistic, calculative and unjustified and will never be justified in the eyes of a just God. Unconscionable Governments exploited the COVID Pandemic to significantly reduce the government’s wage bill and to the relief the government of millions of dollars in pension and benefit obligation to civil servants. They knew a significant portion of the government’s workforce would be unwilling to take the vaccine and like vultures they used the opportunity rob hard working servants of the state of what they would have built up in pension and employment benefits over their many years of being civil servants. Now some of the same governments are offering to reemploy the same persons on a contractual basis without reinstating their pension and other accrued benefits that they literally robbed the unvaccinated employees of. If this is not a form of EXTORTION, ROBBERY, OPRESSION and pure evil then evil does not exists but is rather a figment of our imagination. The unvaccinated civil servants did not abandon their jobs, they did not quit!! Their elected governments who happened to have been their employer entrap them with webs of deceit. Some elements in high places stood to benefit from a high percentage of the population being vaccinated and if these elements were to be denied such benefits because a significant percentage of the population dared to refuse to be vaccinated, they had a plan to benefit even from the unvaccinated and the civil servants were chosen as an easy target and the perfect prey. The unvaccinated civil servants must be reinstated without any precondition period and full stop. The authorities knows that their mandate was and is still ILLEGAL but their PRIDE, ARROGANCE would not allow them to acknowledge the truth because that would be seen as weakness and a win for their political opponents. We do hope they would humble themselves and put away their egos and acknowledge that they were DEAD WRONG and do the right thing and reinstate unvaccinated civil servants and restore their pension and benefits.

  3. Is it because ar yo done dotish dem,? Think it easy to live on banana Republic Islands under wicked evil people dictators? Ar yo right fo treat dem so, many a dem bin help block road.

  4. I disagree! The PM has demonstrated what utter contempt he has for the wishes, dreams, choices and aspirations for the Vincentian people, maybe sometimes including family and friends.
    Whenever his machinations are exposed, he uses excuses, words, and tricks, then throws out some crumbs to deny and cover-up the truth.
    I hope he is putting money aside. It is going to take alot of lumber and galvanize for the next polls.

  5. Sinvinsuntimes is a propaganda newspaper. Almost d entiya ting es fake news. Boi, peepel cud sel day ars so?

  6. It just goes to show how much contempt he has for the people of SVG when he can come and make a statement like that people better wise up fast.

  7. They know they made a mistake and fired the teachers unlawfully. They did not follow the procedures set out in the laws governing the employment of public servants. TEACHERS BE AWARE. ITS STILL A TRICK. YOU WILL LOOSE EVERYTHING AND YOU WILL RETIRE INTO POVERTY. HE WILL GET ALL OF HIS HAVING ENJOYED THE BEST OF SVG FOR 25 YEARS. Dont trust this guy and his ULP administration.

  8. Urlan Alexander says:

    He is putting things in place to steal the next election. Then he will say look I told you they will vote for me..

  9. Urlan he dont have to steal the election to win there are enough hungry voteers wg are willing to sell there votes from Bum Bum to Fancy tp warrant that. Educate your people from being gullible.

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