SHAS­TRI BOODAN

Mem­ber of Par­lia­ment for Cou­va South, Rudranath In­dars­ingh MP, has crit­i­cized the Gov­ern­ment for threat­en­ing to with­hold pub­lic ser­vants’ salaries if they fail to get vac­ci­nat­ed against the COVID-19 virus.

MP In­dars­ingh spoke with Guardian Me­dia fol­low­ing a ham­per dis­tri­b­u­tion cer­e­mo­ny at his con­stituen­cy of­fices in Cam­den, Cou­va.

He ar­gues that mak­ing vac­cines manda­to­ry for pay is a change in the terms of con­di­tions of em­ploy­ment for pub­lic ser­vants, and such changes in terms and con­di­tions can on­ly be done by the Pub­lic Ser­vice Com­mis­sion.

The Cou­va South MP re­called the com­ment by Pres­i­dent of the In­dus­tri­al Court Deb­o­rah Thomas-Fe­lix, who com­ment­ed on the is­sue dur­ing the Cer­e­mo­ni­al Open­ing of the In­dus­tri­al Court 2021-2022.

“Manda­to­ry vac­ci­na­tions can­not be im­ple­ment­ed uni­lat­er­al­ly by em­ploy­ers, and that while em­ploy­ers are per­mit­ted to in­tro­duce pol­i­cy for new em­ploy­ees, con­sul­ta­tion is manda­to­ry for it ap­ply to ex­ist­ing work­ers,” the In­dus­tri­al Court pres­i­dent had said.

"This gov­ern­ment has had an an­ti-work­er, an­ti-union ap­proach to its rule, and their de­ci­sion to make vac­ci­na­tions manda­to­ry with­out con­sul­ta­tion is proof of this. It is ev­i­dent that the Prime Min­is­ter is po­lit­i­cal­ly pres­sur­ing and bul­ly­ing the in­de­pen­dence of the In­dus­tri­al Court and its judge­ments," MP In­dars­ingh told Guardian Me­dia.

"With­in a year of prais­ing pub­lic ser­vants for be­ing front­line he­roes against the Covid virus, the Prime Min­is­ter is com­ing now to threat­en their salaries,” he ob­served.

The Cou­va South MP asked: “What will hap­pen to pub­lic ser­vants mak­ing mort­gage pay­ments? What will be the im­pact on NIS and health sur­charge pay­ments? What will be the abil­i­ty of these of­fi­cers to take care of their fam­i­lies?"