Retired BTL Workers Take Protest to National Assembly

Members of the Belize Communications Workers for Justice took their fight straight to the nation’s capital today, gathering on the steps of the National Assembly in Belmopan. The group, made up of retired BTL employees and their supporters, says their long-standing dispute has hit a wall, and they’re now calling on elected leaders to step in. News Five’s Shane Williams was in Belmopan and has the story on the protest and the political response it sparked.

 

Shane Williams, Reporting

Dozens of members from the Belize Communications Workers for Justice crowded the steps of the National Assembly this morning, right as the House of Representatives convened inside. They made the trip to the capital with one goal in mind, use today’s House meeting to get the attention of area representatives and push for action on their long-unresolved dispute.

 

 

 

Michael Augustus, Organizer, BCWJ

“We believe the parliamentarians need to step in at this point in time and make a final decision. The Prime Minister said it. The Minister of Labour said it. We’ve even heard Julius Espat say it and we have heard others say the same thing. Pay the people their severance and we are saying pay it with the six percent that is due to us. You can’t want to pay us what you want. The court said six, and we are saying we want the six. We can put this thing at rest right now if the Prime Minister and the other parliamentarians either make a call or come out here and tell us, you know, we’re set.”

 

 

 

Part of the protest involved a coordinated push to reach every member of the House. At eleven this morning, the group’s three hundred and ten members, and their families, sent simultaneous messages to all area reps, asking them to step in after the dispute hit an impasse. But the first replies they got only fueled their frustration.

 

 

 

Emily Turner, Organizer, BCWJ

“It’s starting to piss us off when they think that we will go back to BTL when BTL has already closed the door, especially coming from somebody like Marconi Leal, who has the experience of being a BTL employee. So we are not happy with response from him. We’re not gonna be ping ponging with them. We are here for a reason. And you guys have seen that we have been very peaceful in what we have been doing.”

 

 

 

Despite the resistance, the protest did catch the attention of lawmakers. After the Prime Minister wrapped up his budget presentation, Opposition Leader Tracy Panton and Area Representative Lee Mark Chang stepped out to meet the demonstrators. Panton said she received their messages and promised to raise the issue in the House.

 

 

 

Tracy Panton, Leader of the Opposition

“They are not agitators. They are Belizeans who have given years, some of them, Madam Speaker, decades of service to the national telecommunications company that help to build a modern communications network of this country. Today, they did not advocate for charity, rather, they are advocating for justice.”

 

 

 

 

Minister of Public Utilities Michel Chebat reiterated BTL’s stance on the November 2025 date for interest payment of severance.

 

Michel Chebat, Minister of Public Utilities

“Notwithstanding that the court has not ordered BTL to pay interest on such sums to these former employees, BTL’s decision to voluntary pay interest without an order of the court from November 5, 2025, is also based on the consideration that prejudgment interest is awarded at the discretion of the court and BTL is by paying interest from November 5, 2025 to date of payment awarding interest which may not necessarily be awarded by the court if  such former employees were to file a claim at the high court and succeed.”

 

 

The BCWJ says it values the political attention, but the group insists it wants a real resolution and it’s ready to escalate if it must.

 

Emily Turner

“We wanted to make sure that we exercise our right to protest and to that very peacefully so the Belizean public can see that we can get things done collectively in a peaceful way. But you guys have seen us in 2005 and these are the people that did 2005. So yu never know. If they want us to escalate we will have to escalate. It is a different game then. It is really a different game.”

 

 

Shane Williams Reporting for News Five.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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