Public Officers Enjoy 4.5% Salary Increase

Public officers across the country are smiling this week; they’ve finally received the four-and-a-half percent salary adjustment promised by the Government of Belize earlier this year. This pay bump didn’t come easy; it followed months of tough negotiations, protests, and public demonstrations by the unions. So, how are union members feeling about this long-awaited increase? We spoke with PSU President Dean Flowers to get their reaction.

 

Dean Flowers, President, Public Service Union

“The overall reaction has been very positive, of course, because while the among varies across the public service base in a pay scale a little lecture goes a long way on a very long way for certain public officers, especially those on the lower end of the pay scale. And so I can say that public officers have expressed gratitude to the public service union and the joint unions, the BNTU in particular as well as the APSM, who form part of the joint union team to have been able to get public officers this four and a half percent salary adjustment to try to buffer against the high cost of living that we almost endure at this point in time. They saw that adjustment in their pay yesterday, since they were paid yesterday. Teachers are supposed to see that adjustment at the end of the month, I believe, as well as pensioners who were also successful who or who are also included as part of our negotiations to ensure that people continue to retire and live in dignity.”