BTL Faces Protest as Retirees Demand Severance Pay

Tensions are boiling over tonight between former employees of Belize Telemedia Limited and their former employer. Members of the Belize Communications Workers for Justice say they’ve waited long enough for severance pay they are legally owed, following a landmark Caribbean Court of Justice ruling that confirmed retirees are entitled to severance even if they receive a pension. Now, frustrated and demanding accountability, the group has launched a multi‑day protest outside BTL’s headquarters. News Five’s Paul Lopez has the story.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Momentum is building for the Belize Communications Workers for Justice as they intensify calls for fair compensation.

 

Emily Turner, Past President, Belize Communication Workers Union

“We have sent several letters. We have practiced all the diplomacy that we should practice as union leaders that we believe in. Now the time for talking is finished and we want a date on when a check will be handed to every single employee, everybody, not a few.”

 

 

 

 

This morning, the protest line grew outside Belize Telemedia Limited, as about thirty former employees, now members of the Belize Communications Workers for Justice, took their frustration straight to the company’s front door. Their demonstration stems from a landmark ruling handed down by the Caribbean Court of Justice back in November, which affirmed that retired Telemedia workers are entitled to severance pay under the Belize Labour Act, even if they are already receiving a pension. That decision initially applied to ten former employees, but it has since opened the door for dozens more retirees to step forward, saying the ruling sets a clear precedent and it’s time for the company to pay what’s owed.

 

 

 

Emily Turner

“It is all the people that have left BTL have this issue. it is the issue of the payment to all the workers beyond six years and the issue of the tax being taken out on the severance settlement.”

 

Michael Augustus, Past President, Belize Communication Workers Union

“All we are asking, pay the workers their monies owed to them. It is pittance. Some people just about fifteen thousand, forty thousand, pay the people their money before we go in and say we are going to spend eighty million on an old house.”

 

 

 

 

Former union leader Michael Augustus calls Speednet “the old house,” as BTL moves to buy the telecom company for eighty million dollars. Former employees say the move shows BTL sees clear value and growth potential in Speednet. And if the company can find that kind of money for a buyout, they argue, it should also be able to pay the severance owed to retired workers.

 

 

 

 

Michael Augustus

“And this is not just for BTL workers. All workers who have a pension plan needs to be paid severance and this is setting precedents and the CCJ has said they are to be paid. Pay them, they deserve it. That is all we are asking.”

 

Emily Turner

“We wrote a letter where we addressed it to three people we believe have the influence to make BTL comply with the ruling. They are the Prime Minister of the country the Minister of Labor and the Labor commissioner. Those are the three individuals we wrote. The Prime Minister did respond and told us he will have it investigated. After that it was passed to the ministry of labor and the Labor Commissioner responded and said she would investigate it. In January she told us to send the letter from BTL. We wrote her back and asked for a feed back and up to today we have not heard anything from them.”

 

 

The BCWJ says it has yet to hear from the Labor Commissioner, but this week Labor Minister Kareem Musa made it clear where he stands, firmly siding with the retired BTL workers.

 

Kareem Musa, Minister of Labor (File: Jan 28^th, 2026)

“This is a matter that has been ventilated all the way to the CCJ. There is no other alternative, no other appeal process. So, in my respectful opinion, if these employees are qualified for severance based on the CCJ ruling, then by all means you have to pay these people. How do you think you are in a position today to be buying out other companies if it is not on the backs of these hard working people from the company.”

 

 

 

The Belize Communications Workers for Justice has been granted a six-day permit to protest in front of the BTL Headquarters, and they plan to be there every day they are allowed to, from ten a.m. to one p.m. until they receive the payments they are demanding. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.