The High Court on Tuesday dismissed a decade-old case filed by the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) in which government was accused of unlawfully halting the deductions of fees from non-unionized members.The case had been filed in July 2000 against the then Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Public Service Ministry (PSM), Dr. Nanda Gopaul.In his decision, Chief Justice (ag), Ian Chang also ruled that any financial loss that GPSU may have suffered may have been because of its inaction.The former PSM official was awarded $25,000 in costs.Representing GPSU was attorney-at-law Abiola Wong-Inniss while Senior Counsel Ashton Chase represented Gopaul.In its writ, GPSU asked the court to find Gopaul guilty of misfeasance in public office and said that he exercised a public power for an improper purpose with the specific purpose of injuring the union.The union also sought a court declaration that the PS acted recklessly and illegally in instructing the Permanent Secretaries of a number of government ministries and other department heads, not to deduct union fees from employees who are members of the GPSU. The union contended in its writ that Gopaul knew his decisions would cause it irreparable economic loss.1976 agreementGPSU, in its court documents, disclosed that in 1976, it entered an agreement with PSM (which represented government) in which agency fees (the equivalent of union dues but being deducted from non-union members) would be deducted and remitted to the union.In effect, as from March 1, 1976, the agreement mandated new employees in the public service,NFL Jerseys 2018, who did not choose to become members of the GPSU, be made to pay the agency fees.Under the agreement, 25% of the agency fees collected by GPSU would be allocated to finance workers’ education programme undertaken by the union,Cheap Jerseys China, the Guyana Trades Union Congress or the Critchlow Labour College, among others.It was also noted in the decision that in 1987, GPSU adopted a new rule which new employees in the public service automatically became members and even if they took the option of not becoming members, union dues would still have to be paid.DecisionIn his analysis of the case, Chief Justice Chang said it was obvious that the source of dispute and difference between the Government of Guyana (GOG) and GPSU lay in the fact that the latter viewed employees joining the public service as being subject to agency fees unless the workers exercised their option of becoming members. The union,Wholesale NFL Jerseys China, on the other hand, was viewing the same employees as members being subjected to dues, unless they had exercised the option of not joining the union.In other words,Cheap NFL Jerseys, employees who had not exercised the option, of whether or not to join GPSU,Austin Hooper Falcons Jersey UK, was the source of the disagreement and contention, the court ruled.“Once the source of the disagreement and confusion was properly identified, the problem was capable of easy resolution. Whether the source of the problem was identified is not known. But,Cheap MLB Jerseys China, the truth is that the problem remained and confusion festered throughout the years-perhaps to the discredit of both parties.”AuditIn 1999, PSM had written GPSU accusing it of failing to adhere to the 1976 agreement which mandated an annual, audited statement of agencies fees to be submitted. However, GPSU claimed that failure by government to provide accurate monthly returns prevented it from honoring its obligations.In 2000, Gopaul, the new PS, wrote GPSU again giving them a 30-day extension to submit the annual statement. Again, the union replied that the non-compliance was as a result of the failure by government to provide its monthly statements.In June 2000, Gopaul informed GPSU that the government would no longer be deducting agency fees and it would only be deducting union fees from workers if they authorized their various department heads to do so.Later that month, department heads were written to by Gopaul advising them not to deduct agency fees or union dues from public servants.The matter was then taken to court by GPSU.Chang, in his decision, said that based on that “calamitous state of affairs in the union’s records and accounts” relating to union dues and agencies fees, among other things, Gopaul’s decision to terminate the deductions cannot be viewed as an act done unlawfully or in bad faith or with reckless indifference or disregard to the legality of the act.”With regards to accusations by GPSU that government had been submitting inaccurate information about the number of non