WINDHOEK – Yesterday the government launched an application to oppose the interim interdict obtained by the Teachers Union of Namibia (TUN) in October, which prescribed that government not punish teachers who took part in a nationwide strike last year. Government had ssued warning letters to the teachers who abandoned their classrooms for the strike and also deducted wages for the days the teachers spent picketing in the streets, as the strike was illegal.
Judge Maphios Cheda, who heard the arguments, will make his ruling on the application on November 29.
The TUN had successfully obtained an interdict from the High Court on October 2 against the Minister of Education and the Public Service Commission, for the government not to deduct from the affected teachers’ salaries as well as to refrain from issuing teachers with written warnings, and to immediately withdraw the written warnings issued against the teachers, pending the resolution of a dispute referred for arbitration. Government had until today to oppose the interedict or let it become final. However, yesterday it launched its application against the interdict.
Sisa Namandje appeared on behalf of the Minister of Education, instructed by the Government Attorney. Namandje argued that TUN has no legal right to appear before court on behalf of the teachers as it is not the recognised bargaining union for the teaching profession as a whole, and the strike also involved teachers who are not members of TUN. He also argued that the fact that the TUN did not cite the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Education is a major flaw in the application as the permanent secretary is the responsible officer in charge of the education ministry. Namandje further said the TUN could have approached the arbitrator in the ongoing dispute to grant them such an order, instead of the court.
However, Advocate Steve Rukoro who appeared for TUN said that such an action would not be appropriate as sections of the Labour Act do not permit it. He also said that the Labour Court does not have jurisdiction to decide on the merits of the dispute as the minister wants it to do, but can only decide on the prayers asked for in the original application. He said that the arguments that TUN has no legal standing to appear on behalf of all teachers as it is not a recognised bargaining union for the teachers concerned is something that is to be heard at the arbitration and not in the Labour Court.
According to Rukoro, the Labour Court only has the duty to confirm the original ruling in their favour. He also informed the court that nowhere in their founding affidavit is it mentioned that the TUN acts on behalf of all teachers, but rather on behalf of their members. Rukoro further argued that the ministry in their endeavours to punish the teachers acted “unfairly and unjust”. He said the affected teachers were never given a chance to be heard contrary to the State Finance Act, which stipulates that an employee must be given a fair chance to be heard.
By Roland Routh