The standoff continues between the Government of Belize and the Joint Union Negotiating Team, with no resolution in sight over the unions’ demand for an eight-and-a-half percent salary increase for public service workers. The government says it simply can’t afford to pay that amount upfront this fiscal year, but it’s offering to phase it in over three years. That proposal? Flatly rejected by union members, who are also raising red flags about a new five percent pension contribution for incoming public officers starting in October. Just last week, union leaders marched to the Ministry of Labor in Belmopan, formally declaring a trade dispute. So, what’s next? We spoke with the government negotiator, Senator Christopher Coye, to find out if a new offer is on the table.
Christopher Coye, Government Negotiator
“I think that’s a decision for the cabinet and Prime Minister, but ultimately we can only do what we can afford. So the finances and reviewing the finances, looking at what makes economic sense, what makes financial sense, not just for today but for tomorrow and further into the future is what we have to have a bunch of before any adjustments can be made. What is clear is that we can afford what was proposed in a second proposal.”
Reporter
“And was that, as the teachers read it, that it was including the four percent linked to the pension changes and some pension reform?”
Christopher Coye
“I think the pension reform propositions that’s been on the table, that’s been a part of the ongoing discussions between the government and the joint unions for a couple of years now. There’s been quite a bit of analysis, but what is absolutely clear, certainly what I’ve seen, is that there has been miscommunication, if not misinformation being provided to the public by the joint unions. So far as what the reform proposals constitute. There is no proposition that all existing public officers and teachers immediately have to pay five percent contribution. That’s totally inaccurate. And what is in fact the case and what is being put on as the proposition is an incremental move from non-contributory to a contributor’s pension plan. There is no non-contributory pension plan for public officers in the entirety of the Caribbean and Latin America. It’s a total anomaly that it continues to exist in Belize. But at the same time, I think the government recognizes that it has to be a process, there has to be a process both in relation to contribution rate, in relation to retirement age and in relation to the replacement rate.”