Government Needs To Comply Vaccine Mandate Ruling
Oswald Robinson, President of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers Union (SVGTU), said the union is ready to take to the streets in protest if the government does not comply with the court’s order.
Judge Esco Henry ruled on Monday 13th , among other things, that the cessation of public servant obligations under the government’s vaccination mandate was unconstitutional and illegitimate.
The judge found that the decision to deem the public servants to have resigned without giving them an opportunity to be heard was ultra vires, procedurally improper, and contrary to the rules of natural justice, and issued certiorari to quash the decisions of the minister, commissioner of police, public service commission, and police service commission, ruling that the public servants never left their jobs.
Robinson stated earlier this week on Nice Radio that if the government decides to appeal and does anything more to violate teachers’ rights, the unions will stage rallies in Kingstown.
“Every Vincentian, every worker would be mobilized in front of the Financial Complex,” Robinson warned.
On Monday, when pronouncing judgment, Justice Henry ordered that terminated public employees be reimbursed and that any resulting damages be given.
The government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) will appeal the decision made by a Kingstown court on Monday.
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves made it clear that lawyers for the government are quite satisfied that it is likely that this judgment will be overturned in the Court of Appeal.
Approximately 500 public workers, including 200 teachers, were terminated because they did not take the Covid-19 vaccine or did not declare their immunization status by November 19, 2021, as required.
The government gave front-line workers till November 19, 2021 to receive the Covid-19 vaccination. Workers who missed the vaccination deadline were excluded from the workplace and given 10 days to make a decision, after which they were considered to have quit.
The vaccination mandate was given legal force with the passing of the Public Health 2021 Amendment Bill on August 6, 2021, and the publication of the Public Health (Public Bodies Special Measures) Regulations 2021 Statutory Rule and Order (SR&O).
