Constitution should not be used against citizens – SVGTU President

The president of the St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Teachers Union (SVGTU) is of the belief that the Govern­ment’s refusal to reinstate three teachers who resigned from their posts to contest the 2010 general elections is akin to the state using the Constitu­tion against its citizens.

Speaking with SEARCHLIGHT last week Tuesday, Oswald Robinson said that although the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court had ruled against the teachers in their case against the Government,{{more}} they had a “legitimate expectation” of being reinstated.

“I think that we need to have a second opinion. The Government did not honour its commitment to enact legislation… They didn’t do it, and they had the majority in the House of Parliament to do so. It’s a matter of priorities, a matter of trust,” Robinson insisted.

When the SVGTU signed the Collective Bargaining Agreement in November 2005, the president of the union at the time was Otto Sam; and lawyer Ronald Jack had been advising the union on the associated legal matter.

When questioned as to why at the time the SVGTU’s legal advisor had not identified that Section 26 (1) (d) voided Article 16 of the agreement, he countered that the onus for such should have been on the Government and its legal advisors.

“The State ought to know its constitution; the state is not supposed to use the Constitution against its citizenship. So, it’s legitimate expectation… If you sign an employment contract, you ought to honour the contract,” he argued.

“What the article [Article 16 of the collective bargaining agreement] does is to protect your benefit in the event that you are unsuccessful… If you are successful, you go into the Parliament, you have a job. It is to protect those pension benefits that you already accumulated over the years.”

Robinson, who was recently re-elected for a second term as union president, added: “Even before the collective agreement was signed, persons were being reinstated to their positions. Persons were being reinstated before, during and after.”

Robinson noted that Elvis Daniel, one of the teachers who brought the case against the Government, had been reinstated to teaching after his first foray into running for political office, “with all his benefits intact.”

“So, all the state had to do was just reinstate the people because they [Government] would have done it already!”

The three teachers – Elvis Daniel, Addison Thomas and Kenroy Johnson – are being represented in the matter by Shirlan Barnwell and Grenadian Ruggles Fergusson, who have already filed an appeal on the February 10 ruling that was handed down by Supreme Court Judge Brian Cottle. (JSV)