Teachers’ Union ‘not giving up’ in Vaccine Mandate Case

The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers’ Union (SVGTU) says it is prepared to battle the “Vaccine Mandate Case” to the London-based Privy Council after the Court of Appeal hands down its ruling later today (Wednesday).

The government lost the case at the High Court and has indicated that it would appeal to the London-based Privy Council, the nation’s highest court, if it also loses at the Court of Appeal.

However, SVGTU President, Oswald Robinson told a press conference in Kingstown on Tuesday that while his union is expecting another victory it will not give up.

“The vaccine law is still there; the mandate is still there,” Robinson said, referring to a law that the Ralph Gonsalves-led Cabinet of Ministers passed in 2021, resulting in hundreds of public sector workers losing their jobs for not taking a COVID-19 jab.

“… if the union has to go to the Privy Council, the membership will justify that. We have our lawyers to give us advice,’ Robinson said.

“And I know that the Teachers’ Union, under this leadership, we’re not giving up on our members. We can’t watch our brothers and sisters out there — we have gone too far to turn back.

“There’s no turning back, because the government knows the price that it has to pay for all the suffering here, and that is coming from their own people. People are not happy with what transpired,” Robinson said.

“So, if we have to go to the Privy Council, if that is the way we have to go to bring it to an end, the membership will advise, the lawyers would advise our other colleagues, our allies, the Public Service Union and the Police Welfare [Association] and the Teachers’ Union that we listen, we weigh consequences and just like how God provided for the children of Israel, if the money — we’ll find it somewhere,” Robinson said as he fielded questions.

The SVGTU, Public Service Union and the Police Welfare Association sponsored the lawsuit in which former public sector workers Shanile Howe, Novita Roberts, Cavet Thomas, Alfonzo Lyttle, Brenton Smith, Sylvorne Oliver, Shefflorn Ballantyne, Travis Cumberbatch, and Rohan Giles are complainants.

The Minister of Health and the Environment, Public Service Commission, Commissioner of Police, Attorney General, and Police Service Commission are the respondents.

In a March 13, 2023 ruling, then High Court judge Justice Esco Henry (who is now a justice of appeal) ruled against the government on 11 of the 13 grounds of the lawsuit and held that the mandate breached natural justice, contravened the Constitution, was unlawful, procedurally improper, and void.

Anthony Astaphan SC, Karen Duncan, Cerepha Harper-Joseph, Franeek Joseph, and Grahame Bollers are lawyers for the government in the case.

Cara Shillingford-Marsh, Jomo Sanga Thomas, and Shirlan “Zita” Barnwell are representing the dismissed workers.

Asked if the union could afford to appeal to the Privy Council, Robinson said:

“Well, the counter to that is, the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines need to ask the government if it’s affordable for them to go there. … because our taxpayers’ money is used to pay Astaphan and all the other lawyers.”

He said he did not know whether the government ever discloses to the Parliament how much of taxpayers’ money they have used to “keep people suffering”.

Teachers’ Union ‘expecting a victory’

Robinson said union members were “in high spirits; we are expecting a victory.

“…I don’t know how people going to respond to the law of natural justice,” he said in an apparent reference to Justices of Appeal Eddy Ventose, Gerhard Wallbank and Paul Webster, who heard the legal argument on May 2, 2024, and are slated to hand down their ruling at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

“… the Eastern Caribbean court clearly shows that due process was not followed, and based on our Constitution, you cannot fire somebody without having a fair hearing,” he said, referring to the finding of Justice Henry in her High Court ruling.

In bringing the mandate into effect, the government changed what constitutes abandoning a public sector job to deem unvaccinated workers who turned up to their posts as absent.

“The members of the teachers’ union and the workers in general never abandon their job,” Robinson said, adding that the High Court ruled against the government on this point.

 “… we know that there were teachers that work right up to CPEA exam, up to CSEC, CXC, and when those exams were finished, they received a letter to say you have abandoned,” Robinson said.

He noted that under the civil service regulation, someone has to be off the job for 10 consecutive working days without leave to be considered as having abandoned their job.

“The government passed a law to make it unlawful that people go to work, a place you’re accustomed to go,” he said, adding that in one instance, a principal removed the students from a teacher’s classroom.

“The ruling also showed that the government overstepped its boundaries. In fact, the ruling clearly showed that the Public Service Commission and the Police Service Commission, they more or less surrendered their authority, which is enshrined in the Constitution of the land.

“… And when you surrender your authority, because you have to deal with appointments, you have to deal with transfer, you have to deal with disciplinary measures, you leave that to the state.”

Robinson said the Public Service Commission clearly showed its partiality when it stated that the dismissed workers would be rehired on a case-by-case basis.

The union leader also said the vaccine mandate was discriminatory “in the sense that you did not mandate the entire population, you selected the public sector workers”.

He also noted that it was disproportionate in that the punishment it meted out deprived people of their property in the form of accrued benefits.

“… you actually remove their property, people’s pension and future benefits, cut down their breadfruit tree. This is equated to torture. It is inhumane and unjust. It’s an injustice, and so that is why the court ruled it was disproportionate unconstitutional, because they violated the Constitution and it was declared null and void.

“Now, when you put all those together, that is holistic, that’s an overwhelming, well-pronounced, well-sorted-out victory. We had that victory. We still have it. And the government appealed,” Robinson said.

He expressed happiness “that the court is willing and ready to give the judgment so that justice would be realised, the workers can go back, continue to provide for their families.

“You could imagine you teaching for 15, 20, years, that’s all you know, and a government came and just slash it? Thank God our teachers did not go on to illegal practices to keep themselves floating. We know the suffering, their mortgages, their insurance and the list goes on and on,” he said.

“And so, we are excited about tomorrow’s victory, which is nine o’clock,’ he said, adding that the union had scheduled a meeting with its members for 5 p.m. “to discuss the way forward after the ruling.

“…We expect to win. So, we expect out of that meeting, we might have some kind of celebration. I can’t put words in the mouths of our members, but something will happen after that. If it goes against us, the membership will decide. We would also consult with our lawyers … especially legally, because it’s a legal issue.”

Robinson said that a meeting of the leadership of the SVGTU, PSU and PWA has been planned for Thursday “to chart the way forward”.