BELIZE CITY, Mon. May 3, 2021– Today the Public Service Union and Belize National Teachers Union membership participated in a solidarity march in Belmopan as part of ongoing industrial action by the country’s unions against the Government of Belize. They marched around the National Assembly Building and the Prime Minister’s office.
The unions, which are actively opposing a 10% cut to the wage bill and championing the implementation of the UNCAC, is set to meet with the Government of Belize on Tuesday, May 4, 2021, according to the president of the PSU, Gerald Henry.
According to the union, after the PSU’s first day of protest on Friday, GoB sent the union a letter asking for the parties to return to the negotiating table.
While the Prime Minister, Hon. John Briceño, is currently out of the country, the negotiation team will be led by Acting Prime Minister Cordel Hyde. Dean Flowers, 1st vice president of the PSU, told Amandala that he believes Hyde will be sympathetic to the plight of the workers, since he lives in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the country.
Flowers said that at this time many members of the PSU, even some members of the executive staff, have had a change of heart towards the union’s fight after being subjected to what he alleges are efforts by the current administration to instill fear or uncertainty in union members, who are afraid of losing their only means of survival. He flatly condemned any such alleged acts by the government.
He also told the media that while the implementation of Good Governance legislation and the 10% cut to the wage bill will be the main topics of discussion with the Government’s team tomorrow, he will include, as a side note, the displeasure of the unions over the government’s alleged use of fear as a tool to deter members from participating in protest action.
Flowers said that he hopes that Government will come prepared to discuss amicable solutions to the impasse with a view to bringing the deadlock to an end. He pointed out that a failure to positively resolve issues such as salary cuts and good governance could pose a security threat to the entire country, since there is no way of knowing how workers in the security services might respond when their salaries are reduced.
Flowers also noted that while many members of the PSU have retreated from their stance of resistance due to government’s alleged fear tactics, there are also many who are ready and willing to continue the fight.
PSU released a letter dated May 1st in which the union officially informed the government of Belize that its membership would “engage in strike action effective May 4th.”