WE HAVE NO SAY : TEACHERS SUE GOVT

Teachers unions have sued the government saying they do not enjoy practical effective bargaining. They said the Public Service National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC), deprived them of their right to form part of the bargaining process as they had no say in salaries and conditions of service.

But the High Court threw out their constitutional challenge for lacking a preliminary legal context, even before hearing the main arguments for and against.

The government said the three unions had no cause of action because there was no live dispute between the parties to trigger the application’s contention that the provisions were constitutionally invalid other than their mere opinions that was so.

The judge agreed saying : “There is no live controversy that stands to be resolved by any order from this court. There is no background dispute against which the constitutionality invalidity of the impugned provisions is anchored.

“It is simply a case of, ‘because the Constitution provides for it, then the existing provisions of the Acts contested cannot give full meaning to the provisions of the constitution’. That cannot be enough.”

“They ought to have shown that they are embroiled in a wrangle with the respondents who have refused to abide by what they perceive as their constitutional rights.”

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