Photo: Members of BNTU’s Council of Management pay a visit to Catholic Management office on North Front Street in Belize City on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023 after the school management authority failed to attend a second meeting called by the Union.
BELIZE CITY, Mon. Dec. 11, 2023
At a second meeting Friday, December 8, to which the Belize National Teachers’ Union (BNTU) had invited school managing authorities to discuss five outstanding concerns, only two representatives showed up. They represented Calvary Temple and Pilgrim Fellowship. Some twenty-five people were expected, and the Catholic Management was among those absent. After the BNTU’s Council of Management had concluded business with the two representatives who showed up, it deliberated for several hours on how to proceed. The approach taken was that if the managements would not show up, then they would go to the managements. They started with the Catholic Management on North Front Street in Belize City. However, when they showed up, they were told that General Manager Celia Usher was not present. They then proceeded to visit other denominational authorities, given that the managers of government schools attended the first meeting on December 1.
In a memorandum to membership today, December 11, the Council of Management of the Belize National Teachers’ Union (BNTU) informed that, despite only two managing authorities attending their December 8 meeting, they will continue to seek dialogue in order to exhaust all avenues and ensure due process. They also intend to meet with the Income Tax Department to arrive at a definitive time as to when they will process and pay out refunds. The Council says that once all options have been pursued and solutions have not been attained, they will again seek the mandate of the membership about boycotting managing authorities via financial payments, fundraising initiatives and the denominational teachers’ convention.
The Union says if their demands remain unmet by March 2024, then there will be industrial action which could include sick outs, demonstrations, and strike action, among others.
The Council has also set timelines which call for the payment of the 2022-2023 increment by the end of February 2024; payment of allowances by the end of January 2024; and the completion of the income tax return reconciliations process by managing authorities by mid-March 2024. They are also calling on the Ministry of Education to send a memorandum to all managing authorities indicating that an additional thirty minutes of teachers’ time is NOT mandatory.