BNTU President: Respect Workers, Like George Price Did

BNTU President Nadia Caliz is pushing back against the Briceño administration’s claim that teachers and public servants are already getting a fourteen percent raise over three years, more than the eight-and-a-half percent adjustment they requested. Caliz says that the argument misses the point. She believes the government should follow the example of the late Right Honorable George Price and treat workers with the dignity and respect they deserve.

 

Nadia Caliz, President, Belize National Teachers Union

“You all keep talking about a fourteen percent and giving the impression that we are dishonest with our membership. What is it that your letter is saying? Three percent, a reinstatement of the frozen increment come first of April 2026. So we have to go in and discuss the five percent, so there is no guarantee of the five percent. So please don’t come and talk about fourteen percent when your black and white is not even committing to fourteen percent. So I spent an entire day just thinking about all that was said. But I think you should listening to honorable Julious some more, because people are suffering out here. Everywhere I go somebody stop me and give their story, what is happening in the work place and I didn’t even realize so many people are suffering in this country. They need to do get it right, PUP government, I want to put that part out there for a reason, because you applaud yourselves for being a PUP. I am a history student, I studied George Cadle Price and the work he did and how the PUP came into existence. But right now you are not living up to his legacy. It is about time you take a page out of his book and treat workers with the respect they deserve.”