Unions want government rethink vaccination demands

TWO LOCAL LABOUR UNIONS want the government rethink its compulsory vaccination
demands on Guyanese. The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) and the Guyana Public
Service Union (GPSU) in a joint statement decried the fresh government rule making the covid jab
a prerequisite for entry in government buildings.
Initially, the shocking policy prevented workers entry to their jobs and patients accessing healthcare
services. There was public outrage leading to protests in the bauxite-mining city of Linden. The
government subsequently softened its tone and gave workers in the transportation system and
healthcare workers an extra two weeks to take the protective jab.
“Covid-19 vaccines are not mandatory by law. The weight of evidence before us has established
that vaccines are not the great panacea for the Covid-19 pandemic; therefore, vaccine hesitancy is
inevitable, particularly in light of the ease and speed with which facts float across the globe,” the
two said in their joint statement.
The workers representatives maintained that all citizens have a right to choose not to be vaccinated,
and promised to fiercely defend those rights with every legal method available to them.
GPSU and the GTUC declared disappointment in the Government’s management of the Covid-19
pandemic which has so far killed 587 locals and 4.4 million persons worldwide. The two unions
said the compulsory call is tyranny of state employees, threats against other employers and blatant
violation of labour laws.
Instead, following the science, respecting the country’s laws and prudent use of resources – human
and financial – are needed in the fight to roll back the deadly pandemic, the unions said.
They said successfully challenging the contagious virus require superior decision-making currently
flowing from Lot 1, Brickdam. It will also require broad meaningful involvement of all the
stakeholders, including the Trades Union Movement, the unions counselled.
The willy-nilly infringements of workers’ rights will not be tolerated, the two workers
representatives warned.
The government’s latest pandemic-fighting strategy is a continuation of its disregard for GPSU and
its membership, the release complained. It accused the government of sidestepping the Avoidance
and Settlement of Disputes, Section 23 (1) of the Trade Union Recognition Act 1997
and International Labour Organization Conventions 98 and 154 pacts brokered with the GPSU.

“The lock out of Health Care Workers which occurred at Linden Hospital Complex and The
COVID 19 Hospital as well as Maritime Workers is a breach of article 12 of Public Utility
Undertaking and Public Health Services (Arbitration) ACT Chapter 54:01 and the Avoidance and
Settlement of Dispute,” the unions stated.
They said the current coercive mandatory vaccine diktat which pressures citizens into receiving
medical treatment against their will is a violation of Part III Article 9 of The Medical Practitioners
Act (Act No. 16 of 1991) and the Ministry of Health Patient Charter 2018. They reminded that
individuals have rights to keep their medical information private, and this is protected by Article 10
of the same law and provisions in the Patient Charter.

“The unlawful request for workers to cover the expense of their COVID 19 test required by
regulation is a transgression of article 47 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act Cap 99:10 Part
IV. Threatening workers who exercise their rights is a violation of article 58 of Occupational Safety
and Health Act Cap 99:10. Denying the public access to health care is a breach of the unconditional
right of every citizen to free medical attention and social care enshrined in Article 24 of the
Constitution of The Cooperative Republic of Guyana,” the unions statement reminded.

The unions noted further that it is a grave transgression of employees’ rights to require them to
produce negative PCR COVID-19 test or vaccination as a pre-condition for continued employment.
They stressed that these breaches of the law are done at the same time that public servants have not
gotten pay increases for the last two years.

The clumsiness with which the country got off the ground in the Covid-19 battle did not
inspire confidence and trust during a period when trust was paramount as the world
negotiated a tricky Covid-19 crossroad, the joint union statement said.