BELIZE CITY, Fri. Aug. 20, 2021– Lab technicians at the Central Medical Lab were absent from their posts last weekend — leaving the testing at the Central Medical Lab at a standstill for the entire weekend. This was an act of protest by the lab workers, who have become increasingly frustrated by sub-standard working conditions, in addition to a reduction of their overtime pay, and a postponement of their scheduled vacation leave. The lab technicians at the Central Medical Lab have now made it clear that they will no longer be working on weekends and after 5:00 p.m.
In a letter addressed to the Director of Laboratory Services, Dr. Gerhaldine Morazán, the lab technicians state, “A lot has been requested from the staff here at the Central Medical Laboratory since the beginning of the pandemic, and we have and continue to present give our utmost in the deliverance of services to our patients, 24-hour coverage for Covid-19 testing, working public and bank holidays, blood drive on weekends to ensure availability of blood, etc. And for this, the staff should be commended, but rather we are being slapped on the face.”
The lab technicians are arguing that the algorithm used to calculate overtime pay now forces them to work for an additional 22 hours at the base rate. As a result, the technicians at the Central Medical Lab stated that they would revert to standard working hours as indicated in the Circular Memorandum No.39 of 2021.
Reverting to the standard schedule would mean that no lab work would be done on weekends or after 5:00 p.m. Samples arriving after the deadline will not be analyzed until Monday. The Central Medical Lab is the primary testing facility in Belize, at which the bulk of the processing of Covid-19 samples is done, and it receives samples from all over the country. This new arrangement may lead to a backlog of over 500 samples on Monday mornings.
Lab technicians at the facility believe they are the specific targets of recent cost-saving measures. Not only have they been subject to the 10% salary cut and the four-year increment freeze, but their scheduled vacations have been postponed, and they believe they are being subject to unfair overtime arrangements.
Lab technicians and nurses countrywide have reported that those who were on vacation leave have been asked to report back to work, and those who were previously granted permission to take vacation leave will now have to postpone that leave.