BELIZE CITY, Mon. Mar. 14, 2022– The Belize National Teachers Union (BNTU) has decided to close all its accounts at the Belize Bank and to get its banking done at other financial institutions to indicate its solidarity with its sister union, the Christian Workers Union (CWU), which is facing a lawsuit brought by the employer of the stevedores who belong to the union, the Port of Belize Ltd., which is suing several members of the union’s negotiating team and also seeking to prevent a payout from the government to the stevedores. The entity which reportedly controls the finances and decisionmaking at PBL is said to be the same entity which is the proprietor of Belize Bank, the domestic bank with the hugest share of the banking market here in Belize.
The case, which goes back before Justice Lisa Shoman on Wednesday of this week, is an attempt to block the government from paying out $1.5 million dollars to over a hundred stevedores for the financial losses and hardships they experienced during the 20-plus years since the privatization of the port. At the last hearing, Justice Shoman granted an interim injunction to freeze the CWU’s account to prevent the issuance of the funds paid by GoB to the stevedores, but the president of the union, Evan “Mose” Hyde, had indicated that they were experiencing blockages of other bank accounts belonging to the union and its members that was amounting to a financial blackout as a result of the order.
The BNTU, after discussion with the CWU and its members, has stated that the case “amounts to no less than a bold attack on Trade Unionism, as a whole, in our country.” The BNTU is thus asking all unions in the country to consider the implications that the case brought by the Port of Belize Ltd. (seen by many Belizeans as a vicious attempt by an employer to cause economic pain to workers) can have on unionism in Belize and to join them in boycotting the Belize Bank.
“After in-depth discussions were complete, our Council unanimously voted that we stand in full support and solidary with our sister Union, the CWU, and in doing so, our action, in the first instance, will be to withdraw all our Union’s accounts, those of both national and local branches, from the Belize Bank Limited,” a release from the BNTU states.
“Through this medium, we also wish to call on all other sister Unions, under the Trade Union Congress of Belize, to fully consider the dire implication that the court case against the CWU can have on all of us, as Trade Unions. The trumpet call of unionism is, ‘Touch One, Touch ALL,” and therefore the time to come to the aid of our sister union is NOW!!!” the release, which was sent from the BNTU’s Finance Department, states.
But the BNTU is going even further. It will be engaging in further discussions with its wider membership within the coming weeks, in an effort to lay the groundwork for what could be further action on the part of the union.
In its press release the union states, “The Trade Union movement is arguably one of the most important pillars in our democracy as a young nation, and we will not stand idly by and allow any individual, or entity to trample or try to destroy its existence.”
When interviewed some weeks ago, Hector Guerra, one of the Port of Belize’s attorneys, had pointed to the lack of parliamentary approval prior to the government’s decision to enter the agreement with the CWU and disburse payment as the reason for the lawsuit. He said that if approval is granted, they would have to revisit the action. The Prime Minister, Hon. John Briceño, had earlier said that the government will seek the requisite parliamentary approval during the presentation of the budget for the new fiscal year at the next meeting of the House of Representatives, which is scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, March 15. The PBL case that seeks to block the $1.5 million disbursement to the stevedores goes back to court on Wednesday, March 16. The interim injunction is set to expire at 5:00 p.m. on that day.