Govt not defying court on GTU dues – AG

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, SC, has made it clear that the government has not violated the High Court order regarding the deduction and remittance of membership dues to the Guyana Teachers’ Union.
According to a Department of Public Information news release, the legal affairs minister said two letters were dispatched to the GTU President Mark Lyte, requesting a list of the union’s membership so that the dues can be deducted and remitted.
The first letter was issued March 14 by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Shannielle Hoosein-Outar, requesting the verified and certified documentation of the union’s membership.
On March 19, Lyte reportedly stated that the union was not required to submit any information about its members before deductions ceased, and that the government should use teacher data already in its possession to comply with the order.
Speaking during his weekly programme ‘Issues in the News’ on Tuesday, AG Nandlall explained that the government sought to ensure the dues were only deducted from union members, especially taking into account new members and those who may have left.
He stressed that the government is looking to ensure strict compliance with the order handed out by Justice Sandil Kissoon.
“That order speaks to members of the Guyana Teachers’ Union…Not all teachers are members of the Guyana Teachers Union,” he explained.
A second letter was sent to the GTU president and according to the AG, there was no response.
“How can we deduct union dues from all teachers when the judge says you must deduct it only from members of the union?” he questioned. “The GTU is only entitled to union dues from its members. If we take dues from persons who are not members of the union, they can sue us because we would be taking their property,” Minister Nandlall stated.
The AG called the contention that government is violating the court order, baseless, unfounded and malicious.
He questioned how the government could be justifiably accused of violating a court order when it requested the necessary information on two occasions to comply with that very order.
“How do you want us to comply with the order? How do you want the government to comply? Deducting wrongly from people’s salaries and then the government will be liable? Our government doesn’t operate in that reckless environment,” the AG emphasised.
DPI reported that the comments follow Tuesday’s Court of Appeal denial of the government’s request for a stay of execution of Justice Kissoon’s High Court order to continue deducting membership dues for the GTU.
The Appellate Court decision upholds the High Court ruling by Justice Kisson that mandated the government to continue deducting and remitting membership dues to the GTU.
The government’s appeal to this High Court ruling is still pending. In the interim, an application was made for a stay of execution, essentially requesting a temporary halt to the enforcement of the order.
Justice of Appeal Dawn Gregory determined that the circumstances did not warrant a stay.
The legal affairs minister reminded viewers that this decision contradicts a 2000 Court of Appeal ruling in the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) case.
In that case, the court, including Justice Gregory as a member, ruled against the GPSU’s challenge to the government’s termination of dues deductions, finding no legal obligation for the government to perform this service for unions.
The AG believes that the government’s actions in the GTU case are consistent with the established precedent set in the GPSU case and that Justice Gregory should have adhered to this precedent in her current ruling.