PM Accuses BNTU of “Not Being Truthful” and “Using Students as Hostages”

Prime Minister John Briceño is pushing back hard against the Belize National Teachers Union (BNTU), accusing its leaders of dishonesty and political posturing in the wake of the union’s rejection of the government’s proposed salary adjustment.

Briceño said the union is misrepresenting the facts and “using students as hostages” in a negotiation the government says it is approaching in good faith.

“This is where they are not being quite truthful,” Briceño stated during an interview with News 5.

“When we asked them to take a ten percent cut and to freeze increments, we were asking for everyone to make a sacrifice. During COVID, they got their full hundred percent salaries and they were not teaching most of the time—and some of them were teaching online. They got their full salary.”

The Prime Minister also defended his administration’s offer, which includes a phased reinstatement of frozen salary increments and a 3% salary adjustment starting in October 2025. He says that the overall package government officials have repeatedly said amounts to a 14% raise over several years.

“We acted in good faith,” Briceño insisted. “We asked them for the pay cut in three years. We did it for one year. We asked for wage freeze for three years. We did it for two, for emoluments. So now, here we come in good faith and say we will give you back.”

Briceño questioned the sincerity of its leadership. “I think what bothers me is that these leaders, whenever they are in the room, they are very supportive of what is proposed and they felt it is something the membership will accept. But when they leave the room, I don’t know what happens to that,” he said.

This story was updated at 5:28 local time.