More than two years after the High Court ruled that the Government unlawfully halted the deduction and remittance of union dues to the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), the union is still awaiting compliance with the court’s orders as the State continues to pursue its appeal.

The prolonged legal battle has left the country’s largest teachers’ representative body without a key source of revenue used to finance its operations, raising concerns about its ability to effectively represent educators in collective bargaining, industrial relations matters and legal disputes.

In a landmark ruling delivered on April 19, 2024, Justice Sandil Kissoon declared that the Government acted unlawfully when it stopped deducting union dues from the salaries of GTU members and remitting those funds to the union under the long-standing check-off system. He ruled that the decision violated the constitutional right to freedom of association and was discriminatory, arbitrary, unreasonable and made in breach of the teachers’ legitimate expectation.