BELMOPAN. Wed. May 19, 2021– A letter was sent by the Prime Minister, Hon. John Briceño, to the Joint Unions on Tuesday, May 18, in a purported attempt to respond to some queries that had been made by the union leaders after they reviewed the Prime Minister’s May 11th letter. However, that letter, which is the perceived last offer from the government to the unions to end the impasse, came under fire during a press conference held by the BNTU and PSU on Wednesday afternoon.

The union leaders pointed out at that press conference that several portions of the offer that the government had previously made to them were omitted in the letter which contained the “last” offer from the Prime Minister. In their press conference, they noted that they had agreed on details of a promissory note offer which had been subsequently presented to, and accepted by, their members. According to the union leaders, however, no mention was made of the promissory note in the most recent correspondence from the PM. National president of the BNTU, Elena Smith stated that what was presented in the May 11th letter was new, and had not been discussed in any prior meeting.

Another area of contention was the details surrounding how the increment freeze would affect government workers over the timeline of their careers. Smith said that they had agreed that at the end of the increment freeze, public workers would be placed on the same pay-scale which would have been assigned to them if the increment freeze had not been implemented. In other words, the increment freeze would have no effect ultimately on their pay scale over the course of their careers. This offer, she said, was pulled back as well.

And again, said Smith, the latest letter from the PM made no mention of this matter. The BNTU president also mentioned that an agreement had been made with the government to finally hash out a Collective Bargaining Agreement for teachers, and that a first meeting was to be held on May 15. She then pointed out that the letter containing the government’s “last” proposal again made no mention of this arrangement.

What the Prime Minister’s letter did address, however, was an observation by the president of the PSU, Gerald Henry, that a change had been made in the government’s offer to reduce the workweek of public servants. They had initially agreed to reduce the workweek by 5 hours, but the May 11th letter only made provision for a 4-hour reduction. In his most recent correspondence to the unions, however, the Prime Minister reaffirmed the government’s commitment to stick to the 5-hour workweek reduction.

The letter states, “Ministers will be given the flexibility to enable such adjusted work week without sacrificing public service. Notwithstanding the foregoing, overtime when applicable, will continue to apply on the basis of the statutory workweek.”

BNTU national president Elena Smith had stated that the government also pulled back an offer to ensure that banks and financial institutions provide leniency for public servants and teachers in the repayment arrangements for their personal loans and mortgages. She felt that in the last offer the government only mentioned leniency provisions for mortgages. In the recent letter from the government, the PM addresses this perceived removal of a part of the leniency provision by saying, “The forbearance period up to the end of December 2021 allowing borrowers further relief in respect of which the Central Bank of Belize issued guidance to the banks and credit unions applies to the entire portfolio including but not limited to residential mortgages.”

The government also called on the unions to choose a representative from the National Trade Union Congress of Belize to sit on the National Bank of Belize board. The government stated that the person who is selected must have banking experience and be “fit and proper” by the standards of the Central Bank.

Lastly, the Prime Minister sent a stark warning to those public officers and teachers still engaged in protest action.

He cautioned, at the end of the letter, “Finally, as stated in the subject letter, kindly be reminded that any public officer continuing to strike beyond May 14th, 2021 will not be paid any salary for any period on strike thereafter.”