Union to sue gov’t over vaccine mandate

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent (CMC):

The law dictating mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for some categories of public-sector workers here may be tested in court soon.

The Public Service Union (PSU) has said it has instructed its lawyer to sue the government over the matter.

The union’s president, Elroy Boucher, acknowledged that even as the membership of the PSU voted for a four-day strike this week, individual members might be afraid they could lose their job if they take part in the industrial action.

“The union is not addressing this matter purely from an industrial action standpoint. The union has also instructed its lawyers to take legal action. This is not a one strategy,” Boucher told a joint press conference of the PSU, the Teachers’ Union, and Rise Hairouna on Tuesday.

He noted that in Guyana, the trade unions filed a case against the statutory rules and order that the government passed in that country.

“I very much expect here in St Vincent for us to do the same. So we have the nurses and the rest of the public service covered; whatever is necessary for us to safeguard their jobs, we will so do,” Boucher said.