Opposition Leader Ralph Gonsalves says he is waiting to see the position the New Democratic Party (NDP) government will take in the vaccine mandate case, which is before the Privy Council in London.
The Public Service Union, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers Union, and the Police Welfare Association have sponsored a lawsuit challenging the government’s decision to fire hundreds of public sector workers for failing to take a COVID-19 jab by November 2021.
The High Court ruled against the government in the case, declaring its actions illegal and unconstitutional but the Court of Appeal overturned that decision in a 2-1 ruling.
The Court of Appeal has granted permission for the case to be sent to the Privy Council for final determination.
Gonsalves, who was prime minister when the mandate came into effect, said at a Dec. 10 press conference that he was waiting to see whether the NDP administration would defend the appeal before the Privy Council.
“Right-thinking Vincentians would say that this is not a matter for the new government to settle. This is a matter for the Privy Council to decide one way or the other,” Gonsalves said.
Some of the workers had returned to their jobs when the Gonsalves government urged them to do so but others stayed away, saying that they wanted to be reinstated rather than having to reapply.
During the campaign for the Nov. 27 general election, the NDP promised to reinstate all affected workers with benefits intact.
Since the NDP came to office, some workers have returned to their jobs and were given reinstatement cards without having to reapply.
Ann-Marie Ballantyne, who was reinstated to her job as a teacher at the St. Vincent Grammar School after a four-year absence, told iWitness News on Dec. 7 that she was expecting to receive all the salaries she would have been paid had it not been for the vaccine mandate.
She, however, said she was prepared to give the government time to make the payment.
“I expect that we would receive all of our money, including the compensation for the time that we were outside of our jobs. … I don’t have an issue with, [being paid] over [a period of] time, because I am patient enough to understand maybe the economy at this point in time, and maybe everybody will not be able to get all of the money at once, but I expect that we will get compensation for the time that we were outside of our job, including the benefits that were promised,” Ballantyne said.
She, however, acknowledged that the case is on its way to the Privy Council.
“I don’t know what will happen if it’s a case where they will wait until that ruling has taken place, and so forth, or however long it takes, I think it will be right to ensure that the workers are compensated for the wrong that was done.”
Ballantyne pointed out that the High Court had ruled that the workers should be compensated as a preventative measure so that future governments would not repeat such a wrong.
However, iWitness News pointed out to her that the Court of Appeal overturned the High Court decision and ruled that the government had not acted illegally.
“Yes, I understand that but I am hopeful that the Privy Council will rule just as Justice Henry did,” she said, referring to the High Court judgment.
Meanwhile, Gonsalves said he had “a nagging suspicion” that the NDP government would settle the matter rather than have the Privy Council rule on it.
He said that in that way, the only decision would be the 2-1 ruling by the Court of Appeal, “showing that … the ULP government acted correctly”.
The opposition leader said that, despite this ruling, the NDP would make ex gratia payments to the workers who did not return to their jobs when the ULP administration urged them to do so.
He said he suspects that the NDP government would also pay the lawyers some money.
“… I hope my suspicion is wrong, that the matter is sorted out because if it is an issue only of just coming back to work and get … all your retirement benefits, that’s fine because that’s what we have been doing,” Gonsalves said.
“And it is wrong to say that people had to apply to come back. All they had to do is to indicate that they wanted to come back and dozens have come back. In fact, most have come back,” he said of the regime under his government.
He said that his government had hired a senior lawyer out of Trinidad to lead the case at the Privy Council.
“And I have no doubt that that lead counsel would have already written the government or the attorney general to say, ‘Well, look, I’ve been leading, I want further instructions, or I’m withdrawing from this case’,” Gonsalves said.
“I don’t know what — that’s a matter for them, but, but everything has been in place for the government to defend their position … at the Privy Council.”
Gonsalves was speaking two days after Shirlan “Zita” Barnwell, a lawyer for the unions, said at a press conference that the unions would pursue the case at the Privy Council regardless of the NDP’s position.
Barnwell said that while most people were focused on the reinstatement and compensation of the workers, there were other matters in the case that the unions wanted the Privy Council to rule on.
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