Association
Government’s prolonged withholding of union dues raises concerns over interference in union affairs
In December 2024, the Government of Grenada stopped transferring membership dues deducted from public officers’ salaries to the Public Workers Union (PWU). Additionally, on 18th February 2025, PWU President Brian Grimes disclosed that the union had received a letter from Acting Cabinet Secretary Carvel Lett requesting that the union provide information to her office showing the steps taken to increase its dues by one per cent. According to Grimes, the continued withholding has disrupted the union’s operations, while other unions representing public employees have not faced similar issues.
The decision to withhold funds for more than two months has drawn criticism from labour leaders. Senator Andre Lewis, President of the Grenada Trades Union Council (GTUC) and labour representative in the Upper House, described the move as interference in the union’s internal affairs. He called on the Government to release the funds without delay, citing Section 43(4) of the Labour Relations Act, which obliges employers to remit deducted contributions within 15 days.
The controversy coincides with the introduction of the new Public Sector Employees (Pension Fund) Act, a contributory pension scheme requiring workers to contribute between three and six per cent of their salary. Participants may withdraw savings after five years. Legal experts, including two former Attorneys-General, have described the Act as unconstitutional, arguing that it contravenes Section 92 of the Grenada Constitution. Public-sector unions have criticised the scheme as unfavourable to established officers.
Peaceful Assembly
Electricity workers protest outside OECS ministers’ meeting
On 3rd March 2025, workers of the Grenada Electricity Services (Grenlec) demonstrated outside the Radisson Hotel, where the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Council of Ministers on Immigration was meeting. The protest formed part of the union’s strike to draw attention directly to Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell, who also serves as Grenada’s Minister for Immigration.
According to the President of the Grenada Technical and Allied Workers Union (GTAWU), the union was calling on the Prime Minister to intervene and resolve a dispute involving the termination of two Grenlec employees.
The dispute dates back to 2024, when the union objected to the company’s treatment of long-term temporary workers. Under the collective agreement, employees who have worked in temporary roles for more than six months should automatically become permanent. The Minister for Labour had previously ruled that the two affected workers must be regularised. However, Grenlec management instead offered them financial termination packages and hired four new employees to perform their duties.
GTAWU requested that the hiring of the new employees be suspended while talks continued, but management rejected this request, stating it would only agree if the union signed a commitment not to undertake any further strikes for the remainder of 2025. The President of GTAWU criticised the proposal, saying it would effectively prevent workers from exercising their right to strike.
On 7th March, the union agreed to lift the strike after both parties consented to arbitration to resolve the dispute.
Expression
Journalist challenges debt-imprisonment procedure on constitutional grounds
On 31st March 2025, the High Court of Grenada dismissed a constitutional challenge brought by journalist George Worme, former Editor-in-Chief of Grenada Today, who argued that the judgment-summons procedure permitting imprisonment for unpaid civil debts violated his right to a fair trial. The case arose from a decades-old libel judgment against his newspaper. The case stemmed from a 1993 libel judgment against Worme and his newspaper, now in liquidation.
Worme contended that the procedure under Section 65 of the Civil Procedure Act and Part 52 of the Civil Procedure Rules effectively compelled self-incrimination and reversed the burden of proof, breaching constitutional guarantees of due process. The Attorney General argued that the provisions were procedural and consistent with the rule of law.
Justice Agnes Actie found the procedure itself constitutional but ruled that the earlier Form 21 (2000) unlawfully compelled self-incrimination, a flaw corrected in the 2023 revision. While the ruling focused on procedural fairness, it has broader implications for freedom of expression, as it arose from a libel judgment against a journalist and highlighted the chilling effect that debt-enforcement mechanisms may have on media workers and publishers facing defamation suits.