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RNZ News
a day ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
More teachers may strike in Vanuatu
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly The Vanuatu government's decision to appeal the Supreme Court's ruling on the legality of the nationwide teachers' strike is being welcomed by the country's teachers union. The Supreme Court [ quashed a Teaching Service Commission decision to suspend and terminate over 600 teachers] for participating in a strike in a judgement handed down on May 30. The court declared that the industrial action, which started on 6 June last year and recalled on 10 August 2024, remains lawful. Jonathan Yona, general secretary of the Vanuatu Teachers' Union, told RNZ Pacific the strike was initiated over a range of pay remuneration issues spanning 18 years. These included basic pay rates as well as remuneration entitlements for members who were principals, and deputy principals, or worked away from their home island or villages, he said. "The Supreme Court declared that the industrial action issued by the Vanuatu teachers union is lawful," Yona said. "The government decided to appeal the decision of the Supreme Court, and the Vanuatu Teachers' Union welcomes the appeal, and we submission, then we can respond and wait for the Appeal Court." More than 600 members have faced disciplinary action over the strike, which marks its one-year anniversary tomorrow. Yona said these members were from around Vanuatu and had not taught for the past year. Instead, they'd taken up other activities like gardening around their homes and villages to keep them busy. He also urged other members of the union to join their colleagues in solidarity. In total, the union had 2400 members, Yona said. "As we're speaking, many schools in town are closing. In the provinces, most of the schools are closing down. We're looking forward [to] next week, there will be more and more schools closing down while teachers will be getting paid because the action was legal and we wait for the appeal. "We are calling on all the members to come if the Vanuatu government can come down and sign the collective agreement, then the Vanuatu teachers' union will call off the industrial action." According to a statement from the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET), the government will appeal the court's decision, as it believes the ruling could affect the future of the country's education system and workforce. The Minister of Education, Simil Johnson, and the deputy prime minister and Finance Minister, Johnny Koanapo, have met to discuss possible ways forward. They urged teachers whose names are not listed in the court judgement to refrain from joining on the VTU bandwagon. The government also assured that it remains steadfast in its commitment to settle all dues legally owed to teachers, and confirmed that all claims submitted have been verified as of 31 May, with payments being processed. The total amount paid so far is close to 2 billion vatu, which is a significant contrast to the 17 billion vatu and 20 billion vatu that was initially claimed at the start of the strike, said the government. The Government said it notes that a large majority of the claims could not be assessed due to lack of proper justification and/or documentation during the verification process.
RNZ News
4 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
Teacher suspensions quashed by Vanuatu Supreme Court
Photo: RNZ/ Dan Cook Vanuatu's Supreme Court has quashed a Teaching Service Commission decision to suspend and terminate over 600 teachers for participating in a strike. The court also declared that the industrial action, which started on 6 June last year and recalled on 10 August 2024, remains lawful. The Vanuatu Daily Post reported the strike was initiated by the Vanuatu Teachers Union over payroll issues . Judge Edwin Peter Goldsbrough, who presided over the judicial review, delivered his ruling in a courtroom packed with union members last week. He stated that he found no evidence to support a finding that the industrial action was unlawful through alleged procedural irregularities. The union dedicated the victory not just to teachers, but to all workers in the country. According to a timeline from the Ministry of Education and Training, the union notified the Commissioner of Labor of its intention to strike in early May 2024. The primary claim in the notice was the transfer of the teachers' payroll budget from the Ministry of Education and Training to the Teaching Service Commission. A conciliator was appointed but after three sittings a party did not turn up, so the meeting could not proceed. The union then started industrial action on 7 June, before an undertaking agreement was signed on 17 June by the union, the Teaching Service Commission and the ministry. On 5 August, the three parties met for a final review of the claims to be included in the collective bargaining agreement together with a payment plan. The Vanuatu Teachers Union expressed disapproval with the payment amount, but said its members would return to the classroom once they received the first payment in their accounts. As they waited, the number of suspensions issued by the Teaching Service Commission continued to rise. In a statement in March this year, Minister of Education Simil Johnson said the government has "shown its commitments to implement the content of the Council of the Minister's Paper to settle the four billion [vatu] outstanding". The Ministry also said multiple claims were unsubstantiated. In one instance, 1192 teachers claimed principals and deputy principals' allowances. The verification process saw 496 of those claims paid, 235 considered, which cost about 25,180,000 vatu, and 461 were unsubstantiated. Johnson said in the same statement the Government had already begun "paying teachers legal entitlements" and there was "no way" it would not pay fot all other legal entitlements. "I urge all government-paid teachers to continue in their professions as teachers and school administrators and let government do its part in getting teachers' entitlements paid accordingly," he said.
