Former BTL Employees Renew Their Call for Justice

More than a hundred former employees of Belize Telemedia Limited are turning up the heat tonight, demanding severance payments they say have been owed to them for years. Their fight took a major turn last November, when the Caribbean Court of Justice ruled that pension benefits cannot replace an employee’s legal right to severance, meaning BTL must now compensate hundreds of ex‑workers. The group, now organized under the banner Belize Communication Workers for Justice, isn’t staying quiet. They’ve taken their push public, and they say demonstrations could be next if the company doesn’t act soon. News Five’s Shane Williams has the story.

 

Ruth Staine-Dawson, Former Management, Belize Telemedia

“Since the judgment… served so faithfully.”

 

 

 

 

Shane Williams, Reporting

One hundred and thirty former BTL workers are raising their voices louder than ever tonight, insisting the company pay them the severance they say they’ve earned after years of service to Belize’s largest telecom provider. The group, now calling themselves the Belize Communications Workers for Justice, claims BTL has repeatedly brushed off their demands, even as the company pushes ahead with its eighty‑million‑dollar plan to acquire Speednet. Earlier today, more than sixty members stood shoulder‑to‑shoulder with past union leaders to send a clear message to BTL’s management. As former union president Paul Perriot put it, they’re not begging, they’re demanding what they believe is rightfully theirs.

 

Paul Perriot, Past President, Belize Communication Workers Union

 “I want to make it abundantly clear… it is the law.”

 

 

 

 

The former employees claim the company marginalized the very workers who helped build Belize’s telecommunications industry and pressured them into relinquishing their rights.

 

Emily Turner, Past President, Belize Communication Workers Union

“From that CCJ judgment there are… we did that.”

 

 

They will outline their next steps to ensure management complies with the decision of the Caribbean Court of Justice and one option on the table is a march on BTL’s corporate headquarters at St. Thomas Street.

 

Emily Turner

“We have had those discussions… right at St. Thomas Street.”

 

 

 

 

 

Michael Augustus, Past President, Belize Communication Workers Union

“We do not intend to lie and die… what is rightfully ours.”

 

 

 

 

 

They maintain that the dispute goes beyond unpaid severance; it is a matter of fairness, accountability, and respect for workers’ rights. Ivan Puerto, who dedicated twenty years to the company, says he is fighting not only for himself but also for his colleagues who continue to struggle in life after BTL.

 

Ivan Puerto, Former Employee, BTL

“What BTL doesn’t understand… put in BTL.”

 

 

 

 

Shane Williams for News Five.