With bills climbing and paychecks stretched thinner by the day, Belizean workers say the squeeze is real and getting tighter. Rising fuel costs, higher bus fares, and renewed calls for severance protections have turned everyday survival into a balancing act for families across the country. That growing strain sets the tone for this year’s Labor Day activities. When union members take to the streets on Friday for the National Trade Union Congress of Belize’s annual march and rally, they won’t just be waving flags or marking a date on the calendar. They’ll be making noise. Organizers say this year’s message is pointed and urgent: workers want to be heard. NTUCB President Ella Waight says the rally is about standing up to the pressures facing Belizean labor and demanding action, not applause. She tells us what workers are calling for, and what to expect when Labor Day becomes a platform for protest.
Ella Waight, President, National Trade Union Congress of Belize
“We have all our unions that will be present tomorrow in March and at the rally. So we start the march at eight-thirty in the morning from Constitution Park, and we make our way to Birds Isle. In the march, we’re expecting that our members will be having their flags and their banners, and just basically expressing the celebration that we have for workers and for each other. We have also invited the Cane Farmers Association. We’ve invited the Cuban Brigade to join us in the march and the rally tomorrow. We’ve also invited the two justice groups, the ones from the electricity board and BTL to join us as well because they also have a message that they would like to send out to Belizeans, right? And they were former workers, so we invited them and they have agreed to participate as well. So we’re expecting a very decent turnout in the march and rally. The theme for Labor Day this year is “Workers’ Rights, Nation’s Strength”. So workers’ rights, nation strength, meaning simply as it says that the rights of our workers is what makes our nation strong. Without workers, we will not have the country growing the way that it is right now. We need workers. It takes workers to build this country. So our theme is very fitting for this year.”
The National Trade Union Congress of Belize is calling unionized and non-unionized workers to attend Friday’s march and rally.
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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