President of the Public Service Union (PSU), Elroy Boucher, says that voters in St. Vincent and the Grenadines should reject the Unity Labour Party (ULP) administration’s continued support for mandatory vaccination.
Boucher made the call on the union show on NICE Radio as he discussed an onslaught by Storm Gonsalves, son of Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, against public sector workers.
The prime minsiter’s son said that public servants, whom he accused of using their positions to frustrate government initiatives, should count their days.
“I want to say the rebuke, the threat to public servants, is not merely a storm in a teacup,” Bocuher said.
The union leader said the prime minister’s son’s comments must be taken seriously, adding, “… public servants must be aware that their jobs are being threatened by the Gonsalves clan”.
The PSU, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers’ Union and the Police Welfare Association are awaiting the response of the Court of Appeal to an application to appeal to the London-based Privy Council in the case in which the ULP administration fired hundreds of public sector workers in 2021 for not taking a COVID-19 vaccine.
The unions won the “Vaccine Mandate Case” at first instance but the Court of Appeal ruled against them in a 2-1 decision.
Boucher noted that the prime minister had said that one of the reasons why his government appealed the High Court ruling was to know what to do should other pandemics occur.
“He wants to know if his forced vaccination can be repeated if we ever have a public health emergency,” Boucher said.
“In other words, the Vincentian people, public servants, teachers and policemen, their families, school children, must be aware that if we were to encounter any public health emergency, it is very likely that this ULP government would do the very same thing that they did to the over 500 public servants — take away your rights and force everyone to be vaccinated.
“So the threat by Storm Gonsalves against public servants and the statement by the prime minister, which alluded to a repeat of the action of this draconian mandate, must be taken seriously.
“It has to be and should be a factor when you go to the polls, not just the issue of the poverty, not just the issue of the fact that we are the lowest-paid public servants within the OECS (Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States) and beyond after 25 years, with no bonus in 20 years,” Boucher said.
“The facts of your rights and the facts of your threat to your job, the fact that the threat of continued victimisation must be factored into your decision when deciding whether to rehire the plantation owners and maintain this dynasty.”
Vincentians are widely expected to elect a new government by November, ahead of the February 2026 constitutional deadline.
“Those are important things to be considered; very important,” Boucherf said.
“And I’m highlighting them because it can make the difference between whether we survive or we don’t …
“When you look and you listen and you read about what people are going through because of forced vaccination, and the fear that people now go around with, knowing what the fact that they were forced to do and what is possible, you don’t want that to be repeated,” Boucher said.
“And, again, for emphasis, there are certain wicked acts by governments across the globe, by politicians, there are certain wicked acts that a people must try their utmost best not to have repeated.
“History must be our teacher. In these regards, we must not allow ourselves to suffer this particular indignation…
“That has to be factored in the decision taken. What happens to us in the future, it is because of the decisions that we will make in the next few months. As a people, we chart our own course, and we must remember what we have been through…”
During the legal challenge, including after the court ruling, the government said repeatedly that public sector workers affected by the mandate could return to their jobs and would not lose any of the benefits they had accrued during their tenure.
However, Boucher said there are qualified nurses who indicated their interest in returning to the job but continue to be shut out.
He questioned why this was the case.
“And Storm, I wish you can speak about all of these things. Why they continue to be shut out?” Boucher said, adding that he had read about a shortage of nurses in the country.
He said some of the dismissed nurses who have indicated a desire to return to work were supervisors in their last post.