The Guyana Government says that Justice Sandil Kissoon’s ruling yesterday declaring the recent teachers strike as legal and preserving their pay overturns a salutary principle that guides industrial relations.
The judge yesterday upheld the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) argument that their four-week-long strike was legal and therefore the state was debarred from deducting pay from the strikers. (See other story on page 3.)
“The law, and indeed industrial relations in Guyana, in both the public and private sector, have been turned upside by a decision of High Court Judge Sandil Kissoon today in the GTU case”, the government said in a statement, reiterating that the decision would be appealed all the way to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) if necessary.