The New Democratic Party (NDP) is disappointed with the ruling on Wednesday 12th February 2025 by the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal in the Vaccine Mandate Case between the government of St Vincent and the Grenadines and the public sector unions. The court ruled in favour of the government.
We believe that the ruling of the Court of Appeal has dampened the hopes of the teachers, police and other public sector workers. While the government had the right to appeal the High Court’s ruling, it was incomprehensible why the government took such action against the workers of the state; a government which proclaims to be a ‘labour’ government. It was the only country in the region that took this spiteful and drastic action to fire state workers who were not vaccinated. Is this a government that cares about the welfare of the workers? Is this a government that cares about the well-being of the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines? The dismissed workers have been suffering since 2021, and the Unity Labour Party (ULP) is to be blamed.
In November 2021, the government instituted its draconian COVID- 19 vaccine mandate, requiring police officers, teachers, nurses and certain other government and state entities workers to take the COVID- 19 vaccine, as a standard of qualification for work. Hundreds of workers were not vaccinated. As a result, they were fired from their jobs by a wicked and vindictive regime causing severe hardship and psychological pain for these workers and their families. A lawsuit was brought against the government by the public sector unions, which challenged the COVID -19 vaccine mandate.
When the matter was heard in the High Court, the court ruled in 2023 that the workers did not leave their jobs but were terminated by the government and the court ordered the government to reinstate the workers with full benefits. The government appealed the ruling and the Court of Appeal heard the arguments in May of 2024. It took almost a year for the judgement to be delivered. So, the hardship and the psychological pain of the workers and families who were affected continued during the period, public pleas were made by many, including religious leaders to reinstate the workers but to no avail.
Finally, the judgement has been delivered. We did not receive the ruling that we anticipated. But there is hope for the teachers, police and other public sector workers. We reiterate our position. An NDP government will end the suffering of the affected public servants by reinstating them, with full benefits. Affected public servants won’t have to wait for any order from the government; you can simply return to work the day after the NDP forms government. We will work out the compensation matters ordered by the court as quickly as possible thereafter so as not to prolong the hardship.
It was one of the gravest acts of injustice committed by any government against its workers by this ULP government when it fired teachers, healthcare workers, police and other public servants under its misguided covid vaccine mandate. However, Labour Party governments in St Vincent and the Grenadines have a track record of abusing workers. The Milton Cato Labour government had teargassed teachers during their strike in 1975, and suffocated Kingstown with teargas. That remains a searing event that is still commemorated by the teachers’ union to this day, and this year being the 50th anniversary of the event, may increase the scale of celebration. Also, the failure of this government to reinstate the three teachers who contested general elections in 2010 for the NDP. Although, there was a collective agreement between the government and the St Vincent Union of Teachers.
The NDP’s position on this vaccine mandate matter was clear. While we, as a party supported vaccination as a means of combatting COVID-19, we were philosophically opposed to making the COVID- 19 vaccine mandatory. Mandating vaccines—i.e. forcing people to be vaccinated against their will is not who we are as a democratic society. It is also not who we wish to be as a people. And, firing government workers and taking away their benefits because they did not take the COVID- 19 vaccine was cruel and counter-productive and created more unemployment and misery in our country.
Let us acknowledge that the world was caught off-guard and unprepared by COVID-19. No country was truly prepared to tackle a public health problem on such as large scale. We did not have any safe and effective vaccines against coronavirus; that only became available about a year or so later. It was therefore understandable, if concerning, that our vaccination rates were low, even though safe, effective, and free vaccines were available. As a democratic society however, our concern and even frustration for some must not manifest into actions likened to dictatorship.
When did these workers with long service and valuable work experience suddenly became disposable so that they were easily be replaced with new recruits? Statements by government officials about replacing police officers, teachers, nurses, including those who had many years of service and experience in their jobs with new recruits disrespected those affected employees.
The ULP administration has historically done nothing more than deprecate the views of others. They have stopped listening and therefore choose to take heavy-handed approaches when their leadership failures are laid bare for the world to see. The ULP has failed Vincentians. This ULP government must be made to pay a heavy political price at the polls for what it has done to the workers of this country. Based on the judgement of the Court of Appeal, it appears that the hardship and suffering will prolong as long as the ULP is in power. Vincentians must vote for the NDP at the next general elections to end the suffering.