Public Officers Have a Right to Strike, But…
Social Workers within the Ministry of Human Development, Families and Indigenous People’s Affairs are in fear of possible victimization after Chief Executive Officer Tanya Santos issued a memo to her directors in response to the recent industrial actions. In a letter dated May fourth, 2021 with the heading ‘Strike Action,’ C.E.O. Santos requested that officers sign in and sign out upon their arrival and departure from work each day. Additionally, Heads of Departments will be required to submit daily reports on all absences by nine-thirty a.m. According to the memo, and in accordance with Regulation Eighty of the Public Service Act, no vacation leave can be approved during strike action. Also, as noted in the message, the regulation stipulates that officers who are on vacation leave must return to work if strike action continues. News Five spoke with C.E.O. Santos via zoom, she told us that while public officers have a constitutional right to strike, there are certain regulations that public officers must adhere to.
Tanya Santos
Tanya Santos, C.E.O., Ministry of Human Development, Families and Indigenous People
“The intent of this memo really is multipurpose. One it is to acknowledge to my staff, my public officers that you have a right, you have a constitutional right for industrial action, to strike. That is fine that is normal, that is understood and there is no disputing that. But with those rights, also comes obligations. No rights go without obligations. No rights come without obligations. And I don’t know how many public officers are aware of the obligations when it comes to industrial actions. I will refer to public service regulation eighty, clause five which states that at the commencement of a strike Chief Executive Officers or Heads of Departments shall inform all public offices on leave of the existence of the strike and request them to report for duty immediately. And it gives exceptions when that can happen. And that is offered there in the memo as well, if there are exceptions that can be made, it can be done. And it tells them how to do it. But it goes further later in clause eighty-one (r5), where a major misconduct, including a notice classified as a major misconduct when it comes to discipline, is failure to report to duty during a strike pursuant to regulation eighty. So I didn’t write the public service regulations.”
