In light of a decision against the government’s attempt to stay an order mandating the deduction and remittance of union dues to the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), Attorney General Anil Nandlall clarified that the union did not provide membership information.
Nandlall, during his Tuesday night ‘Issues in the News’ commentary, disclosed that the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Shannielle Hoosein-Outar wrote GTU President Dr Mark Lyte on March 14, 2024 requesting the names of GTU members so that a court order could be complied with.
Mr. Lyte reportedly told Hoosein-Outar that the GTU was not required to submit that information before the deduction and remittance ceased, and urged her to use the teacher data the Education Ministry has to comply with that decision.
A subsequent letter was sent to Mr. Lyte, according to Nandlall; no response has been received yet.
Nandlall said the government could not deduct union dues and transfer those to the union unless it knew which teachers were bona fide members. Should the government incorrectly deduct dues from a teacher, it could face legal action, Nandlall explained.
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“The contention now being made in the public domain that the government is violating the court order is baseless, is unfounded, and is malicious because I have in my head two letters where we asking for information so that we can comply with the court order and the information has not been forthcoming,” Nandlall said.
Nandlall’s comments came after a Guyana Court of Appeal decision was made on Tuesday. In the ruling, Justice of Appeal Dawn Gregory was against granting an application for a stay of the High Court’s order that the government must continue to deduct those union dues from teachers and remit them to the representative body.
The Court of Appeal decision upholds a decision from Justice Sandil Kissoon; in April, that judge said the government should continue deducting dues from the salaries of teachers who are part of the Union. The government should also ensure those dues are then given to the GTU.
Addressing this, Nandlall said there is no duty in law for the government to do this. According to him, this was an extra service offered by the government.
“Terminating that service is not an unlawful act,’ Nandlall said.
And he reminded his listeners that the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) had already lost a High Court case that challenged a decision by the government years ago to cease the automatic deduction and remittance of its dues.
All of these developments unfolded after teachers across the country engaged in strike action last year. Teachers eventually returned to schools at the end of June, as the Education Ministry and GTU agreed to negotiate a new deal.
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