The Public Service Union of Belize has once again taken a stand against the Briceño administration with a resounding rejection of the government’s offer of two increments to be phased over a three-year period.
After nearly ninety-five percent of the union’s membership voted to reject the government’s offer and over ninety-one percent voted to declare a trade dispute, PSU leadership peacefully marched to the Ministry of Labor this morning to hand-deliver their declaration.
PSU President Dean Flowers addressed the membership upon arriving at the office, reaffirming the union’s refusal to back down from their demands for an 8.5 percent salary adjustment in this fiscal year. Flowers outlined the union’s next steps, stating that coordinated action with other unions would begin within the coming weeks.
“Within that 21 days in coordination with the BNTU, in coordination with the APSSM, we shall start applying force and power and pain on the Briceño administration who is simply not listening to the workers,” Flowers declared.
The PSU President directed sharp criticism at Prime Minister John Briceño. “The Prime Minister has been in office for five years. He stands out of as one of the leaders, and I’m pretty quite sure they’re not, there may not be a whole lot of them, but he stands out as a leader that in five years he has not sat with the PSU,” Flowers said.
Flowers expressed frustration with what he characterized as the Prime Minister’s approach to public service management. “Imagine the man will lead the public service, has never sat with the PSU because he believes that PSU is his private company and he’s treating it like that and that that disrespect, he’s known his second term. He has held one meeting in five years with the joint unions and that was a meeting that he attempted to hijack our agenda.”
Flowers issued a stern warning about pension reforms, drawing distinctions between private and public sector labor relations. “And so while the honorable Minister of State might be accustomed to having his way in the private sector, I wish to serve a serious warning. It ain’t gonna happen in the public sector, my brother.”
“And we will die for that pension until such time. Until such time as we can adequately negotiate. A salary review exercise that fairly compensate public officers and allow them to contribute into a pension fund. We will continue to resist that. IMF. Recommendation to put more P in Pam public. We will not subscribe to that.”