82 teachers who lost jobs under vaccine mandate yet to return to work 

Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves says that 246 public sector workers lost their jobs under his government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which came into effect in late 2021.

And, as of Feb. 13, 82 teachers were yet to have returned to their posts, Gonsalves said, just over a month after his Education Minister Curtis King, told Parliament that “most” of the teachers have returned to the classroom.

Gonsalves said on radio that the chief personal office had supplied him with a list of the affected workers.

“I don’t know if that’s the complete list, but what they gave me was 246 persons,” the prime minister said, adding that 116 of those workers have returned to their post.

He said that of the 130 who have not returned, 82 are teachers. 

In a ruling on Feb. 12, the Court of Appeal overturned the March 2023 ruling of the High Court judge (now an appeals court jurist) Esco Henry that the mandate breached natural justice, contravened the Constitution, was unlawful, procedurally improper, and void.

Gonsavles said that during the two days after the ruling, “a number of public servants, teachers, nurses and the like have approached, called to the chief personnel office, indicating that they want to come back. 

“They made word-of-mouth calls. But clearly, a matter like this, you have to put something in writing. It’s elementary, you have to put something in writing, and you put it in writing and it would be dealt with.”

He noted that the current school term began six weeks ago, adding that as regards rehiring teachers, the Ministry of Education “would have to be given some little time to see where you’re going to place Mary, Jane Thomas and Elizabeth. 

“… because the post should not be just around there available to you in your old school, … because persons would have been out from work, some persons, since October, November 2021”.

Asked if rehiring the teachers who want to return to the classroom following the Court of Appeal ruling would mean displacing relief teachers, Gonsalves said:

“Well, it may involve displacing some relief teachers. That may be one consequence, or it may mean employing more teachers,” adding that there may or may not be vacancies.

“In cases where the teachers may be needed and there are no vacancies, we’ll just have to create those positions … for a special warrant arrangement and then validated by Parliament. “

He, however, said these are matters that the Ministry of Education officials,  the Cabinet Secretary as head of the Public Service and the Public Service Commission “will have to knock their heads” to make the final decision about. 

“But obviously, Public Service Commission can’t make a decision in relation to a post which doesn’t exist because it has to be funded. So those are details they’d work out,” the prime minister said.

Gonsalves said it may be more difficult to reintegrate immediately principals who lost their job under the vaccine mandate.

“Obviously, it’s easier if you are at the end of the term … where you will you be making arrangements within your academic year,” he said, adding.

“But I would hope that all the practical matters be dealt with expeditiously, because I genuinely want to see the healing and let us put this matter which came to us from outside, this pandemic, this virus, put it behind us, and we can’t go forward in some unity.”