Year: 2025

Leaders of the joint unions met today in Belize City to discuss the government’s recent salary adjustment proposal. They will now go back to their membership to put the matter to a vote. But, after four hours of meeting today, President of the Belize National Teachers Union, Nadia Caliz confirmed with News 5 that the leaders in today’s meeting outrightly rejected the proposal. She referred to it as a disrespect and a move backward from the government’s initial proposal.

 

Nadia Caliz, President, BNTU

“It is downright disrespectful and conning. You are offering us four percent with one hand and on the other hand you are talking about pension which the rate is five percent annually. You have given us nothing, four and five when you do the math, subtract, it is an additional one percent. We believe that they need to consider the workers of this country and the fact that they told us we can meet for clarity. We cant event negotiate and yet you are talking about we can meet in good faith. We don’t call that good faith, we call that down right disrespect. And we live in a  democratic country, we are not tolerating that or accepting it any at all.”

Paul Lopez

“That is to say it is an outright rejection?”

Nadia Caliz

“Yes, it is an outright rejection. That is why the councils have to meet today. We cannot allow the government to disrespect our workers like that, no.”

 

 

We also heard from President of the Public Service Union, Dean Flowers. He contends that the Government of Belize has downgraded its negotiations with the joint union by having Minister of State Christopher Coye sign off on the second proposal. According to Flowers the tone in which that second proposal was written is not in good faith.

Dean Flowers, President, PSU

“I feel it very important that I build on what this sister has just echoed and I want to commend first and foremost the history that has been made today and last night as joint union, collective membership. Today we met our joint councils, why, because the government demonstrate that they have little or no respect for public officers. They  reduce the role of the deputy prime minister to a minister of state, somebody who is not even accountable to the people of Belize, somebody who has proven that rather than acting in the best interest of the country, he acts in the best interest of foreigners.”

Reporter

“You are talking about Mister Coye”

Dean Flowers

“I cannot even utter his name. it is extremely disrespectful what the prime minister and the deputy prime minister cause to occur yesterday by having a minister of state, who is not accountable to the people of Belize  to send the workers of this country, public officers a letter, that in of itself is disrespectful, not mention the unfavorable nature and the tone of that letter. It says to us, I am not here to negotiate, I am here provide clarity if you want. If you want me to provide clarity to you, you can come back to me. I will save my words, because I put on my old bway hat today so that I don’t blow my top as a result of that letter.”

President of the Association of Public Service Senior Managers, Sharon Fraser, also weighed in on the government’s four percent proposal. She chided the Briceno administration for attaching pensions reform as a condition to the proposed four percent salary adjustment. According to Fraser, this is a step back from GOB’s initial proposal.

Sharon Fraser, President, APSSM

“Now as sister Nadia would have said, there is the process. So now while it is that it was the joint councils meeting, one still has to go back to the general membership and in fact let them express in the best way they know how whether they are accepting the content than the letter.  The situation is we have gotten a letter that is worst of than what we got in the first place. In the first place, while it is they were offering three then the remainder over two years, it was not conditional on anything. Now we got an offer and yes they raise it to four, but it is conditional on pension reform and in fact starting pension with new comers and the proposed figure is five percent. So it actually put public officers worst off, it is worst. Now, everything is conditional. I will tell you when we proposed that eight percent no pension reformed was attached to that. So I don’t know how all of a sudden they have tied down that eight percent that was to represent everything that is happening, cost of living, inflation rate, so how now that ties in. We have been talking pension reform from last year, has nothing to do with this eight pint five pervne.t. So I find that the letter is not reflecting what we had talked about around the table. Now saying  we will give you four but you have to accept this, you have to tie it to performance, a number of thing it is tied to that was never a part of the discussion.”

There is good news for those Stann Creek teachers that authorities charged on Thursday in connection with their protest in Dangriga. President of the BNTU, Nadia Caliz met with Police Commissioner Doctor Richard Rosado on Thursday afternoon to discuss the charges. She was later informed that those charges will be dropped.

Nadia Caliz, President, BNTU

“They have agreed that when we are out there they will keep us safe and I appreciate that. And I also shared I do not want anybody to think they are just going to grab me and do anything they want because I am the leader. I prize my freedom and so I carry myself because I am mindful of that, so don’t be looking at things to come at me because there are so many people supporting the teachers. I don’t prescribe to that. Allow us to operate the way people ought to function in a democratic country. There are two things I want to weigh in on, the government just got a new mandate. Some people believe we should have done this before election, no this is perfect timing because there is a manifesto you shared with the people, and now this is for you to prove that you are serious with what is in that manifesto. Don’t come to us with pretty promises and don’t want to deliver. This is from Plan Belize, which one, 2.0, 1.0? Thank you and you said twenty. We are asking for eight point five. But we are coming to you with eight point five and you are showing all these expenses. And government is not being honest when they talk about the millions they are sharing as it pertains to the cost of the wage bill. No we want them to show us the figure, don’t just be throwing things out there to the public scaring everybody, because from behind the scenes, our people that have access to the system are telling us that the figures the PM is pointing out is ballooned. So we are not going to sit here like we are crazy and stupid and not know what is going on. Show us the figures. Show us the figures.”

Reporter

“So form your meeting with the ComPol, doe sit look like they are doubling down?”

Nadia Caliz

“No, actually, I got a call this morning from our lawyer. He called and said the teachers in Orange walk was well behaved today and they are dropping the charges for the teachers in Stann Creek.”

 

We also heard the union’s response to Financial Secretary Joseph Waight after he suggested on Thursday that an increase in wages could possibly lead to an increase in taxes. According to the union leaders, GOB is working to pit the public against them.

Nadia Caliz, President, BNTU

“Again we are dealing with politicians and we are seeing the fact that the Belizean populace are in  support of what we are doing and they want us to lose that support so they are looking for something to scare people. At the end of the day, I don’t know if you have heard, but there is this allegation that the Belize Tax Service will become a statutory body. Now, think about that. We will be paying taxes, taxes to wherever will get that contract. That is something we were discussing that we don’t agree with. So they will have another fight with workers, because that is something that should remain with the government. Now let us talk taxes. We are already paying very high taxes. The way our system is designed you have one group paying the majority of those taxes. The people at the top pay very little and the people at the bottom, well we understand, they are taking home small change. What we are asking for to have a tax system that allows people to pay based on what they earn. But they continue to ignore that. They give million away to investors and they expect this group of public officers and teachers to continue to sacrifice for teachers. And I understand the whole idea of fiscal incentives, but you don’t have to be giving every single thing away because a friend of yours will get a contract on the side. No we need o go away with that mentality and behavior. The Fin Sec with eh last administration under Dean Barrow they used him for the same thing. So everybody uses the Fin Sec and brother Wight I am tired of you being used. Please let them use you for the right reason.”

 

Dean Flowers, President, PSU

“And when my own Belizean like uncle Joe, refuse to address the issue of the tax incentives and exemptions that the puts his signature to. Instead of addressing those he threatens the Belizean people with taxes it shows how his lack of creativity and that he has no talent in terms of executing his job effectively. I want to encourage him to stop that nonsense. It is no time to talk about the raising of income tax, it is time to say let us level the playing field. Let us look at the lawyers who have created companies and formed partnerships and who have not been paying their fare share. The professionals, they are paying six percent, but when they create partnerships that is divided. You have the business sector who are unchecked, because this administration, like it predecessors refuse to put a real time mechanism, a real time check system hat really and truly identify what your true sales are so that government can collect its fair share of taxes. So uncle Joe has the home grown remedy. Uncle Joe got it but it look like uncle Joe drink the whit man kool aid, the IMF kool aid all his life and now he want we take care of him from cradle to grave. Now he come with his simpleness about tax. Uncle Joe relax yourself. You see what Dr. Carla Barnett did after she couldn’t fix it for us, she gone relax dah CARICOM. Uncle Joe needs to do the same.”