The Vanuatu Teachers Union and the Teaching Service Commission remain divided over whether key resolutions reached through a conciliation process have been fully implemented, with an 11 September deadline now approaching.
The dispute follows a 30-day industrial action notice issued by the VTU over outstanding matters involving teachers’ employment conditions and payments. Although the notice has matured, the parties later signed a Memorandum of Conciliation (MOC), witnessed by the Labour Commissioner, giving the Government and teachers’ representatives time to work together on the agreed resolutions.
VTU Says Key Resolutions Remain Outstanding
VTU Secretary General Jonathan Yona says the union has found that several resolutions in the MOC have not yet been fulfilled.
One of the main issues concerns 571 teachers who were moved into the new GRD structure.
Under the agreement, Yona says the TSC is required to provide copies of letters relating to each teacher’s GRD alignment and, after each payday, provide aggregate payment data so the union can check calculations and identify any shortfalls.
He says the union was expected to receive the aggregate information following four paydays, but the data has not been provided despite repeated requests.
“By signing the MOC, they agreed to provide the data and should honour that agreement.”
Yona says the Labour Commissioner called a meeting on Monday to follow up on the progress of the resolutions.
He says VTU did not consider the meeting a new conciliation process because the conciliation period had already ended, but rather a follow-up to determine where the parties stood on the outstanding resolutions.
Yona says the VTU representatives raised concerns that a number of the agreed matters had still not been addressed.
TSC Says Government Has Completed Requirements
TSC Chairman Jessy Dick Joe disputes the union’s position and says the Government has fulfilled the main requirements raised in the dispute.
Joe says the GRD alignment, remote allowance and transfer allowance matters have all been completed, including payments and information to affected teachers.
He says the TSC’s position is that there is no outstanding Government debt relating to the matters covered by the conciliation, with any future claims to be handled through the normal collective bargaining agreement process.
“From our side, we have completed 100 percent of the requirements under the conciliation agreement.”
Joe says the Commission has the payment information requested, but the issue is whether individual teacher information can legally be provided to the VTU.
He says during Monday’s meeting, the TSC proposed going through the information teacher by teacher, while the VTU did not agree to that approach.
The TSC says individual teacher information is subject to confidentiality and other legal requirements, and the Commission has therefore sought advice from State Law on whether the information can be shared with the union under the agreement.
State Law Advice Sought
Joe says the request for legal advice was submitted on 8 September and the TSC will act according to the advice it receives.
The issue has become a key point of disagreement between the two sides, with the VTU maintaining that the required information should have been provided under the MOC, while the TSC says it must first establish whether it can legally release individual payment information.
Industrial Action Still Possible
The MOC gives the parties until 11 September to work towards the agreed resolutions.
Yona says the VTU executive will meet next week to consider the union’s position and decide what action should be taken.
He says industrial action remains an option if the union considers the resolutions unresolved, but no final decision has been made.
The VTU has previously maintained that industrial action would only be considered as a last resort after available avenues for dialogue and resolution have been exhausted.
With the 11 September deadline approaching, the two sides remain divided over whether the conciliation resolutions have been fully implemented and what information the TSC is required to provide to the teachers’ union.
