NTUCB: “A Movement to Make Our Citizens Conscious”

The National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB) marked its 59th anniversary on Saturday with a march and rally under the theme “Only the People Can Save the People.”

Several unions gathered in Belize City to call for better governance, respect for workers’ rights, and economic fairness while celebrating almost six decades of existence.

“Having all these people out here on a Saturday shows that they are interested in what they do as workers, and it also shows that they want serious change in Belize… when it comes to good governance, when it comes to union respect, and to systematic change,” NTUCB President Ella Waight told News 5.

That demand for change was a central message from Public Service Union President Dean Flowers, who said the rally was about demanding accountability. “It is ensuring that we hold the government accountable, ensuring that the monies that are being collected by way of our taxes and the leakages that are occurring cease so that there can be fairer wages, better living standards, and better quality public service.”

Flowers added that the prolonged negotiations with the government showed the unions the value of “strategic organisation.” An important element is that he said he will be “sharing with other affiliates in terms of how to organise because you organise to win; you don’t organise to lose.”

NTUCB President Ella Waight echoed that notion, stating that the rally and recent negotiations are part of a larger effort to awaken public awareness. “Not a movement to agitate, not a movement to demonstrate, but a movement to make our citizens conscious of what the NTUCB stands for and for what we are out here for, to ensure we have good governance and we have a country that is prosperous in the future.”