Judge rules in favour of GTU

Sandil Kissoon

-says strike legal and justified, gov’t to appeal

By Abigail Headley

In a comprehensive win for the GTU, Justice Sandil Kissoon yesterday ruled that the strike launched by the union for collective bargaining was legal and justified and therefore deductions cannot be made by the state from the salaries of striking teachers.

He also castigated testimony before the court by the Chief Education Officer (CEO) Saddam Hussain as not credible and criticised the Chief Labour Officer Dhaneshwar Deonarine for not taking steps to bring the four-week-long strike to an end.

The Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) had gone to court to challenge the government’s decision to deduct pay from striking teachers and the  intention to cease deductions of dues from teachers’ pay in favour of the union.