Public Officers Accept GOB’s 4.5% Deal—But with Caution

Belize’s public servants have spoken—but what are they really saying? In a recent vote, more than seventy-five percent of members of the Public Service Union agreed to accept the Government’s latest salary and increment proposal. On the surface, it looks like a clear win for compromise and progress. But with nearly one in four members voting “No”, the results also raise deeper questions: Is this truly a step forward for all public officers? Or is it just the best option in a tough situation? The PSU’s leadership has pledged to move ahead with the agreement, while also keeping a close eye on how, and if, the government delivers on its promises. At the same time, they’re preparing for the possibility of industrial action should things go off track. This vote may be over, but the real work is just beginning. As the Union turns its attention to pension reform, cost-saving measures, and good governance, the question remains: Will this deal bring lasting change, or just temporary relief?

 

Dean Flowers, President, Public Service Union

“We would have opened the polls to our general membership on Friday. We had a general membership meeting on Friday as well to explain where we were in the negotiations with government. We went through the last proposal sent to us or given to us by the government a day prior and we opened up ourselves to questions and clarifications where those were needed, as it relates to this last offer and we told our general membership that the reason why the matter needed their approval was given the fact that today would have been the expiration of the twenty-one days notice. Whichever way the PSU would have gone would have signaled the direction that the APSSM would have gone since, like I said, those members who are active and since not all of them are active and not all of them are members of the APSSM at all levels, similar to the wider Public Service Union, even though at the Public Service Union level we would ensure that only our registered members can participate in that process. But I certainly did not anticipate a difference in the outcome of the vote between the APSSM and the PSU, given the relationship that exists between those two entities. As it relates to the BNTU, it’s a matter of their constitution. Their constitution has a provision in their as we were informed that it requires a fifty plus one participation in the process, while on the other hand our process is more a democratic process whereby majority present and voting dictates the direction of the union, hence the reason why we continue to insist and implore on our members to remain engaged to ensure that their voices are registered and that they have their say.”