2025-05-30 - Greater Belize Media

KHMH Workers March for Pension Justice

The call for pensions is growing louder. Today, workers from the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital took to the streets of Belize City, demanding the government honor their years of service with a proper retirement plan. The K.H.M.H. Workers Union says employees who served between 2000 and 2018, some for over two decades, are set to retire without a single cent in pension. That’s because no pension scheme was ever put in place when the hospital became a statutory body twenty-five years ago. Joined by members of the Belize National Teachers Union and the Public Service Union, the workers marched under one clear message: “Give Us Our Pension.” Here’s Paul Lopez with that story.

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Hospital workers in Belize City marched in protest, calling for a long-overdue pension plan. Staff from Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital say it’s time their years of service are recognized with retirement benefits. Lydia Blake, who’s worked there since 1995, supports the cause wholeheartedly, she knows just how vital this fight is for her colleagues.

Lydia Blake, Employee, KHMH

“Despite no matter what, no matter, who we get the job done because the public nuh have no where else to go but Karl Heusner. We have been down this road. WE have been through different governments. We have been through different board and managements. Enough, we have proven ourselves through Covid. They brought the COVID unit to KHMH surpass that so that gives us the right to be entitled to our pension. Case closed.”

Paul Lopez

“Why you think this time will be different?”

Lydia Blake

“Because we are taking it to the very end. To the very end, because the staff are getting old, sick and they are dying.”

Frustration is boiling over at Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where longtime employees say they’ve worked for decades without proper retirement security. With no pension plan in place, they’re left to rely only on severance pay. Union President Andrew Baird says that’s exactly why workers are demanding change.

Andrew Baird, President, KHMHA Workers Union

“For those who were working at the KHMH prior to 2000 when it the statutory body was formulated they were considered to be government workers. So when they retire the government will pay them a pension and KHMH should reimburse the government for he period they work at KHMH. Then you have those who came under the authority when the statutory body was formulated in 2000. At that time either the government or KHMH should have formulated a pension scheme or a provident fund. Neither was done at the time for he formation of the statutory body.”

This changed in 2017, when the hospital’s authority established a mandatory providence fund or a retirement saving plan for new workers. But according to President Baird this does not adequately serve workers employed between 2000 and 2017. And, after years of negotiation with the Government of Belize the issue is unresolved, and those employees are now on the edge.

Andrew Baird

“If there is no pension then all they take home is severance which is pittance of what they value. So we believe they deserve. We are the frontline workers for this nation when it comes to medical service. We are national referral hospital for the country of Belize.”

With chants of “Gimme mi pension,” hospital workers marched through Belize City, joined by members of the Public Service Union and the Belize National Teachers Union. Their route, from the hospital to the Mahogany Street roundabout and back, sent a strong, united message. But tensions rose after the Labour Department warned that any strike disrupting hospital services without notifying the Health Minister could lead to jail time. Union President Andrew Beard dismissed the warning, calling it misguided, while BNTU President Nadia Caliz boldly responded, “Bring it on.”

Andrew Baird

“I don’t see how a demonstration means to stop work. I don’t see how we say we go slow means we stop work completely. So, I beg to differ with the LCC and we are guided by our legal team as well.”

Nadia Caliz, President, Belize National Teacher’s Union

“Too many government agencies are becoming statutory bodies and workers are losing their rights. They need to bring to the attention of statutory bodies that these are the things you are ging to lose so you remain if you want to or we pay off. But you don’t find that.”

The KHMH Workers Union are scheduled to return to the mediation table with the Government of Belize on June fifth. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.

Healthcare Workers Join Teachers in Demanding Fair Treatment

As the Belize National Teachers’ Union continues to push for an eight-point-five percent salary adjustment, the government is now facing added pressure from another front. The Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital Authority Workers’ Union is demanding that retiring staff receive pensions, a benefit they say is long overdue. The union criticized the government for stalling negotiations and announced plans to take industrial action. While some argue that KHMH workers may not qualify for pensions since the hospital isn’t fully government-run, the workers insist this fight is about more than money. They say it’s about fairness and recognizing their years of service to the nation. Today, we spoke with NTUCB Senator Glenfield Dennison, who expressed support for the workers and their call for justice.

Glenfield Dennison, N.T.U.C.B. Senator

“That’s a a difficult one. And I’ll tell you, I don’t, I don’t envy the position that the Prime Minister is in, but the people only clammer for what they think is just so, whether you don’t like it or not, whetherwe don’t like it or not, people have assessed. What they think is just, and the KHMHA Workers Union, they know and feel that getting the pension is something that they deserve. They’re comparing themselves to those in the government service. They’re the National Referral Hospital. Those people are working extremely hard doing work of several people in some serious conditions. You heard me say in the Senate that air conditionings are not working. They have cat scan machine, but no, contrast. And so, they’re trying to make, do. I don’t think those are the people that you want to pick a fight with.”

BNTU President to P.M. Briceno “You Are Holding Our Children Hostage”

News Five has learned that the Public Service Union and the Association of Public Service Senior Managers have joined the Belize National Teachers Union in rejecting the government’s proposed three percent salary increase. Union leaders are expected to formally notify the government of their members’ decision tonight. Meanwhile, tensions are rising. When we spoke with BNTU President Nadia Caliz this afternoon, she didn’t hold back her frustration, especially over Prime Minister John Briceño’s recent comment accusing teachers of “holding students hostage.” Caliz called the remark offensive and out of line.

Nadia Caliz, President, Belize National Teachers Union

“I must use this medium to respond to my P.M. According to you brother and I say that with respect, according to you my teachers are holding the students hostage. Honorable Briceno governments, both red and blue have been holding us hostage. You have been sending us into poverty. When we look at our classrooms, we finance those classrooms. We take care of those classrooms. A teacher with an associates degree cannot live a comfortable life here in Belize. I say that because we met on the sixteenth of May 2024. And when you are telling me that our teachers are holding the students hostage, you have been holding these students hostage, you are not providing what you should be providing for them. While we applaud the fact that some of them can now get a meal and my teachers no longer have to take out of their pockets to give them that, my teachers have been suffering because they have been doing a part of your responsibility as a government, providing those resources, repairing those schools. So we at the BNTU don’t take that light. I will say antiart thing, you were willing to give up millions with the Caye Chapel project, millions but holding the students hostage, that project is a part of the whole hostage movement we see going on right now.”

BNTU President: Respect Workers, Like George Price Did

BNTU President Nadia Caliz is pushing back against the Briceño administration’s claim that teachers and public servants are already getting a fourteen percent raise over three years, more than the eight-and-a-half percent adjustment they requested. Caliz says that the argument misses the point. She believes the government should follow the example of the late Right Honorable George Price and treat workers with the dignity and respect they deserve.

Nadia Caliz, President, Belize National Teachers Union

“You all keep talking about a fourteen percent and giving the impression that we are dishonest with our membership. What is it that your letter is saying? Three percent, a reinstatement of the frozen increment come first of April 2026. So we have to go in and discuss the five percent, so there is no guarantee of the five percent. So please don’t come and talk about fourteen percent when your black and white is not even committing to fourteen percent. So I spent an entire day just thinking about all that was said. But I think you should listening to honorable Julious some more, because people are suffering out here. Everywhere I go somebody stop me and give their story, what is happening in the work place and I didn’t even realize so many people are suffering in this country. They need to do get it right, PUP government, I want to put that part out there for a reason, because you applaud yourselves for being a PUP. I am a history student, I studied George Cadle Price and the work he did and how the PUP came into existence. But right now you are not living up to his legacy. It is about time you take a page out of his book and treat workers with the respect they deserve.”

Second Round of Negotiations Between Unions and GOB

Union leaders are expected to officially notify the government’s negotiation team tonight that their members have rejected the proposed three percent raise. BNTU President Nadia Caliz confirmed the update and says the unions are ready to return to the table, ideally as soon as Monday, for a second round of talks. But there’s more stirring behind the scenes. Caliz also made a bold claim: she believes members of the current administration have infiltrated her union’s council and executive branch, raising concerns about internal trust and transparency as negotiations continue.

Nadia Caliz, President, Belize National Teachers Union

“They have already expressed through so many means that they don’t care what we have planned, they are going to do what they need to do, but they do care because they have infiltrated by council and branch executive and I know a lot of things going on right now. But I wont hide, when it is time for me to say what I need to say and do what I need to do for my membership it will happen. So they don’t have to be paying nobody no secret money for nothing to do nothing. When we are going to make that move we are going to tell you and everyone is going to know what is going to happen. What brought me out here today when I saw the press conference, it was sent to me, about you can go to jail with essential services. They know the consequences of actions, but they don’t know that they need to do something so that we don’t get there. Why do we always have to come blows and wars before we get what we want.”

Paul Lopez

“Do you go back to the negotiation table?”

Nadia Caliz

“We have to go back to the negotiation table but we couldn’t do it on our own. Our members had to give us their mandate which we now have, both BNTU and PSU and APSSM now have a mandate and we are going to communicate that to government today they are going to get that response.”

Union Senator Says 3 Percent Pay Raise Simply Not Enough

The Belize National Teachers’ Union has flatly rejected the government’s proposed three salary increase. On Thursday, teachers across the country made their voices heard, marching in green and waving signs with a clear message: “We matter.” Prime Minister John Briceño acknowledged their concerns but said the government simply doesn’t have the funds to offer more. Still, the protest gained support from labor leaders. At today’s Special Senate Sitting, Senator Glenfield Dennison of the National Trade Union Congress of Belize backed the teachers, saying their fight is justified.

Glenfield Dennison, N.T.U.C.B. Senator

“ I think it’s important that the people of Belize be made aware that this is a issue for each public servant, each teacher, each nurse, each doctor, everyone who works for the government, and some who work in the statuary bodies. It’s straight up cost of living question. People are finding it difficult to make ends meet, and they are very clear. They have done the math. They know that a three percent increase for them is simply not enough. Police officers who are just coming out of training school are telling me that, you know, they make five hundred and five dollars every two weeks. That’s ten every month. Three percent of that is negligible. That’s thirty dollars and thirty cents, and so. It’s not making sense and it’s not making cents because we, the other talk about how much, hundreds of millions and so, but for each person they can do the much they have done, the much they’re telling you that, listen, I’m not asking for a lot that recruit, that recruit even at the eight point five percent. It’s only one hundred and thirteen more. They know what hundred and thirteen dollars does for them, and that’s just a a junior recruit coming out of training school. But the situation is worse with people who are career public officers, who have mortgages, who have expenses. Their children are growing up, they’re going to high school now, and the money just isn’t enough. So to say that the teachers are being unreasonable, I think, is to not assess the humanness that each teacher is feeling right now.”

Appeals Court Upholds Damages for Patt and Barrow in Commission of Inquiry Cases

The Court of Appeal has dismissed two high-profile appeals brought by the Attorney General, affirming compensation awards to former Deputy Prime Minister Hugo Patt and former Prime Minister Dean Barrow. Both men had challenged the findings of a Commission of Inquiry into the sale of government assets, arguing that their constitutional rights were violated during the process. In the case of Hugo Patt, the court upheld a Supreme Court ruling that awarded him ninety-five thousand dollars in compensatory damages and fifty thousand dollars in vindicatory damages. The court found that Patt’s right to be heard was breached when the commission failed to issue a Salmon letter or give him a chance to respond to damaging allegations. Similarly, Dean Barrow was awarded a hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars in compensatory damages and sixty thousand dollars in vindicatory damages. The court agreed that Barrow’s rights to natural justice and equal protection under the law were violated. While the trial judge had initially quashed only parts of the Commission of Inquiry report, the Court of Appeal expanded that order, ruling that nearly all references to Barrow must be removed due to the severity of the rights violations. The court also addressed concerns of bias raised by Barrow, particularly regarding the conduct and affiliations of the commissioners. While it found no definitive proof of bias, it acknowledged the importance of public confidence in the fairness of such inquiries. Both appeals were dismissed, and the Attorney General was ordered to pay costs.

Belize Commits to IDB Investment Despite Opposition Concerns

The Senate has approved a plan to pay for the country’s share in a major capital increase by the Inter-American Development Bank. Last March, the I.D.B. announced a three-point-five-billion-dollar boost to support a new model for its private sector arm, I.D.B. Invest. As a member, Belize must buy a hundred and thirty shares at twenty-one thousand dollars each. To meet this obligation, the government will spread payments over seven years. While U.D.P. Senator Sheena Pitts criticized the move, arguing the money should go toward urgent national needs, Government Senator Eamon Courtenay defended the decision, saying it’s a long-term investment in Belize’s private sector growth.

Sheena Pitts. U.D.P. Senator

“Help me understand that we do this now, you provide justification for doing this now instead of dealing with the teachers’ issues. And I hear KHMH, they’re kicking up. Yeah, you all have a storm ahead brewing. And you know, it’s stated, the Prime Minister knows. I would like to understand, really, genuinely, no cynicism, how is it that we can prioritize having the ability to ear mark this amount of money to put into the IDB Invest above and over what is emergent right now for Belizeans.”

Eamon Courtenay, Lead Senator of Government Business

“Make no mistake about it, the senators on this side, support the Belizean private sector. Make no mistake about it, we will continue to facilitate investment by the private sector by making concessionary loans available from IDB Invest. We will do it again and again and again in the interest of the Belizean people. And those, Madam President, who stand in opposition to this motion today, will have to answer to the Belizean people.”

Business Senator Urges Government to Boost Transparency

At today’s Senate Special Select meeting, Business Senator Kevin Herrera praised the government’s efforts to grow the economy, noting an eight-point-two percent increase in GDP and a thirteen percent rise in annual revenue compared to the previous year. But he says that’s not enough. Herrera is now calling on the government to follow through on its promises of good governance and transparency. He stressed the need for accurate financial reporting and criticized the administration for failing to produce audited government accounts since 2014. “It’s time we match economic growth with accountability,” Herrera said.

Kevin Herrera, Business Senator

“The accounting for government and the responsibility for this lies with the government and in particular, with the Ministry if Finance. This is the Prime Minister’s Ministry and so he bears responsibility for this. There cannot be any audits unless accounts are presented. And we know that the accounts are not being presented; they are nine years late. This continues, Madam President, to be a major violation of the finance and auditory format, which requires yearly and timely audits. So every year, there are no audits submitted, and every year, there are no accounts submitted. It continues to violate what we fought so hard for in 2005. When we did the finance and auditory reform, along with the unions, along with civil society, and the then-current administration.”

Lottery Profits to Fund NHI, But Not Everyone’s Betting on It

The Briceño administration says it’s using lottery profits to expand Belize’s National Health Insurance program. According to the Prime Minister, sales from the popular Boledo lottery have brought in about seventeen million dollars in profits—money the government plans to invest in making healthcare more accessible and reliable for all Belizeans. But the plan isn’t without controversy. At today’s Special Senate Sitting, U.D.P Senator Patrick Faber criticized the move, arguing that the NHI expansion mainly benefits private healthcare providers rather than the public.

Patrick Faber, U.D.P. Senator

“The government speaks of investing in hospitals and expanding NHI. Let us not get be distracted by the fanfare of NHI. It’s a hussle. NHI under the PUP is a hassle. They’re now rolling out NHI to Cayo. You see NHI in concept is not a bad idea. But what PUP does is take the money and instead of giving it to the public hospitals or the public clinics and have them use the money to best provide the primary are thars needed and then beef uo ehateer need to be beefed up by paying private entities, they don’t do that. They bypass the public sector and they give all the monies to private entities, private cronies, to help them get fat, to help them get rich. That is the PUP way and that is what they’re doing. This is a kind of retirement plan.”