BNTU Doubles Down on Missing Salaries after MOE Denies Claims

The Belize National Teachers’ Union has fired back at comments made by Minister of Education, Oscar Requena over the unions’ claims that several teachers are missing their salaries. On Monday, Requena said the deductions were because of salary advances given in December, and claimed the union agreed to it. But BNTU President Nadia Caliz says that’s completely inaccurate. She took to social media to set the record straight, saying teachers didn’t get advances, they got long-overdue increments and allowances. Caliz even pointed to a letter from December 2024 where the government promised to pay those increments and allowances that same week. For her, the minister’s comments highlight a bigger problem, a broken system and a lack of transparency.

 

Nadia Caliz, National President, BNTU

“For months now, teachers have been complaining about a miscellaneous deduction more last month than ever because there were huge chunks being deducted. What is miscellaneous ? Nobody could have explained what it was. Now as a leader of this union. I am hearing for the first time because the CEO sent a a letter over the weekend. I shared with my council this morning, I wanted some clarity on what was there, and so I said, let me ask my questions first before I say anything. I never got the opportunity to do that today, until tonight. I’m seeing this nonsense about teachers being given an advance. In December and that they should have expected to repay it or stuff like that. I don’t know where my dear minister got his facts from, because I am shocked. I’m irritated as a matter of fact, for us now, nationally, globally, to be exact, to be told that your increment, your outstanding allowances was an advance when the minister, our ministers of government, there’s a reason I’m not calling ay  name right now, came out and said the teachers will be given the increment before the thurty-first of December that came from them. The BNTU has a letter that CEO Mejia sent to the BNU to me as a president on the sixth of December, stating the exact same thing that the increments and allowances and so forth will be given by December thirty-first, 2024. We met with the Ministry of Education senior management team, including the minister on the seventeenth of December. In that meeting, we brought to their attention the fact that taxes will not be deducted if they go to the management. They responded that they have worked all of that out. Later on, we found out that was not so. They explained to us that they will have to withhold some of it back from the teachers in January and February when they explained that to us. We explained that to you all.”