For two weeks, the unions have been raising their voices, but they are still waiting to see whether the Briceño administration is listening. After joining forces to publicly outline their demands during a two-hour press conference, the unions formally placed those concerns before the Prime Minister. Since then, the Public Service Union and now the National Trade Union Congress of Belize have taken to the streets in separate protest actions. With pressure mounting and no clear response from government, we asked Union Senator Glenfield Dennison whether the administration truly takes organized labor seriously.
Glenfield Dennison
Glenfield Dennison, Union Senator
“You see, the process is an important part of what we have to do right. People driven movement always have to build and it is our responsibility as union members to ensure that we keep the momentum building. What happened with the Digicel was so big that the momentum did not need anytime to build. But there are so many other underlying issues that we need to keep bring it to the fore. You would have noticed that we have the SARA issue being raised earlier this week. Now the CWU is brining up the issues affecting our pensioners, our future and I am not sure if the president told you, but we have a plan of action that includes continuing to build the momentum. I am of the view that power does not listen if they don’t have a reason to listen. So, w e are going to continue to give them reasons to listen and I will say that BNTU is the last hammer we will drop and by that time I think the unity will pull everyone out and by that point it is not if you want to listen, you have to listen.”
NTUCB Rallies Citizens against Government’s Deafening Silence
NTUCB President Ella Waight is calling the Prime Minister’s silence more than disappointing. She says it is downright disrespectful. With the unions’ demands still unanswered, Waight is now urging Belizeans to move their frustration beyond social media and take it directly to the streets. Here is how she put it.
Ella Waight
Ella Waight, President, NTUCB
“It is simply disrespectful and it is not taking the NTUCB or unions disregarding us. It is disregarding your people, because we did not come up with these demands willy nilly, on our own. These are concerns we have been getting from our members and from citizens from everywhere we get information, social media, via the news, some via their own Cabinet members. These are concerns everyone has in this country, so now we should have gotten a response. They are giving up their twenty minutes of lunch to be out here to ensure that NTUCB’s demands are being respected. They are standing up in the sun just like you and I getting burnt to have citizens understand, we have to take a stand in this country. We cant just be behind computers and laptops typing. These laptop warriors, or computer warriors, Facebook warriors, that have to end. We have to come out here and stand up for twenty minutes. It shows you are concerned about the issues in our country and that goes through our demands at NTUCB.”
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.
