Trade Unions Protest Briefly after PM Briceno Misses Deadline
A deadline has come and gone, but Belize’s trade unions say the Prime Minister’s office has not even acknowledged their demands. The National Trade Union Congress of Belize gave Prime Minister John Briceño until today to respond to an eleven-point list of concerns delivered earlier this week. Instead, the unions say they have received neither a formal reply nor confirmation that the document was received, while the Prime Minister is out of the country on personal leave. Frustrated by the silence, the NTUCB joined the Christian Workers Union and its members employed at the Social Security Board for a symbolic fifteen-minute lunch-hour protest outside SSB’s Belize City headquarters. We were there and spoke with NTUCB President Ella Waight and CWU President Leonora Flowers about what happens now that their deadline has expired.
Ella Waight
Ella Waight, President, NTUCB
“We are calling it a walk of demands, walking in support of the NTUCB’s eleven demands we gave to government. As you are aware, today is the deadline we gave the prime minister to answer to the eleven demands we made. We have not gotten any response from the prime minister. I understand he is out of the country. But as far as we know there is a deputy prime minister and the work of the government continues. So, our letter should have been answered by now. As you know PSU began earlier this week, and they did a walk out, a great walkout at income tax. We at CWU represent the workers of the Social Security Board, DFC, etc. So, we decided today to support NTUCB with our walking and supporting our demands for NTUCB.”
Leonora Flowers
Leonora Flowers, President, CWU
“Every great thing begins with a small effort and as workers of Belize we need to show ourselves out there that we should be represented by the government and we let them know that we stand with the NTUCB. So we gathered asking our members to come out and show solidarity with all the action that have been placed on the table. It is disappointing that we have not heard from our prime minister, as sister Ella said. We have lots of ministers in the Cabinet. We have our deputy prime minister and people who could respond to us. Today is our deadline and it goes up to midnight tonight.”
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