New Deal!! Unions demand Good Governance!

With momentum gained after Cabinet joined their overwhelming rejection of the BTL-Speednet deal, the workers unions are now demanding serious and urgent administrative changes for Good Governance. 

By William Ysaguirre (Freelance Writer)

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Aug. 20, 2026

     On Tuesday afternoon, August 18, representatives of the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB), the Belize National Teachers Union (BNTU), the Public Service Union (PSU) and the Belize Communications Workers Union (BCWU), along with Labor senator Glenfield Dennison, who had joined forces to oppose an attempt to merge the country’s national telecommunications company with Speednet Ltd. (which was brought to a halt by the Cabinet last week), voiced their demands for better governance at a press conference at the BNTU headquarters in Belize City.

NTUCB says replace BTL Board of Directors

   NTUCB president Ella Waight noted that they now need “to conclude the closure of the rejection of the acquisition process.” She stated, “These should be done urgently and transparently. The public should be informed when these processes have been completed. [To] restore confidence in the BTL leadership, we call for the immediate removal of chairman Mark Lizarraga. We believe the chairman has not been sufficiently honest and transparent with BTL workers and the public, and therefore has lost the confidence of many employees and BTL workers and Belizeans. When BTL lost business to SMART, he took a nonchalant attitude. He advocated to pay $90 million to cable companies and industries that has long since been dying; and he is insistent that he wanted to go through with the purchase of SMART and Speednet.”

   “Other board members whose accountability should be reviewed and eventually, we will ask for their removal: Moises Cal, Arturo Lizarraga and Mr. Eric Eusey, who represents the small shareholders. And the timeline is immediate!” she added.

  She further commented, “The telecommunications company must include the people in BTL. The chairman finally admitted that the company is owned by Belizeans. Workers must have a meaningful voice in its governance. We therefore call for what has been established at many other organizations and boards: the tripartite structure at BTL, and the timeline is 90 days! When we have representatives, we know that we can regain that trust in these organizations.”

   She then went on to say, “We are agreed that competition is good, but fair competition is better. We support genuine competition in telecommunications, because consumers benefit. The service is better, and we have competitive prices. However, the recent BTL release, we found it to be vindictive rather than constructive, and inconsistent with the principles of fair competition. Our position is not anti-SMART or anti-Speednet. Our position is protecting national assets and defense of BTL.”

   Waight further outlined a non-negotiable stance: “100 percent channeling of government business. The NTUCB stance is non-negotiable: all government business, statutory board contracts and public sector communications must be funneled directly through BTL. We must not subsidize private-public partnership in a state-owned enterprise fully equipped to serve public good. It is mandatory that 100 percent of government business to remain with BTL, protecting operational revenue and keeping public monies within public entities. No other company should receive preferential treatment,” she said.

   She also questioned the impartiality of the regulator of telecommunications matters – the Public Utilities Commission. “The Prime Minister’s influence over the regulator is perceived to be a real thing. If the Prime Minister appoints the members of the PUC, there can be a perceived conflict between potential influence and regulatory independence. That perception is particularly serious, because the PUC is supposed to regulate telecommunications in the public interest and promote competition and consumer protection. The NTUCB is calling on government to return public confidence in the PUC by having 4 of the 7 commissioners nominated through the recognized social partners in good standing. These include labor – the NTUCB; business – through the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI); Belizean NGOs and the churches through NEAB; and then three commissioners from the government of the day. The structure allows for the citizens of Belize to have majority control over the PUC. There will be strong accountability … more transparency. The timeline is 90 days.”

BCWU calls for transparency in SSB investments

   Also delivering remarks at the press conference was the BCWU (Belize Communication Workers Union) general secretary Harrison August, who noted that his union represents 328 BTL employees, “which makes up 60 percent of the BTL workforce.” “On the 7th of August, the membership spoke loud and clear not to support the acquisition of SMART. We are also shareholders, smaller shareholders. We have invested in our company as well. We are also taxpayers; our overtime is being taxed, but we do so knowing the benefits to the Belizean public … we do this for the love of the company, and for this nation. We are also Social Security contributors; we pay SSB and thus we want our SSB contribution to be used wisely, with due diligence,” he remarked.

   He went on to state, “The government of Belize invested over $500 million of taxpayers’ money to pay for BTL; and as such, we know that it’s a public investing company, and as such it requires our input.” He called on the BTL board to rescind their “yes” vote on the SMART acquisition. He thanked BTL directors Allan Pollard and Anisa Perdomo for their bold stance, “for having the backbone to stand up and vote NO to this acquisition.” He reiterated the BCWU’s vote of no-confidence in chairman Mark Lizarraga, Moises Cal, Arturo Lizarraga and Eric Eusey, reminding the public of Cal’s past international embarrassment, when he was found to be carrying USD$500,000 as he was transiting through Panama on a diplomatic passport. He also pointed out that BTL board directors with political affiliations voted in favor of political directives, rather than in the interests of the Belizean people. He additionally noted that government business was funneled to SMART during the past year “to give a false narrative that the company is doing so well.” He advocated for “any decisions involving Belizean national assets to be undertaken with transparency, responsibility, and in the best interest of the Belizean populace.”

   Labor senator Glenfield Dennison cited the unacceptability and conflict of interest of the original, proposed acquisition of two cable companies along with SMART, which would have cost BTL $170 million. “My NO-confidence vote is not simply because of the SMART-BTL acquisition … The board composition that voted to acquire SMART was intending to acquire 2 companies valued at $90 million. I don’t have any confidence in the leadership of Mark Lizarraga. It is hinged very closely to his decision to even consider acquiring a cable company from his brother and the brother of the prime minister,” he said.  He called on Lizarraga to pay former BTL employees of Belize Communication Workers for Justice (BCWJ) the severance amounts owed to them.

Unions demand legislative reform – Civil Assets Recovery Bill

   Senator Glenfield Dennison called for legislative reform, for the Civil Assets Recovery Bill to be passed, and he emphasized that it has languished too long in the House of Representatives. The Bill is intended “to ensure that corruption is minimized,” Dennison said. He also drew attention to the Protected Disclosure bill to protect whistleblowers, which has also been long delayed in the House, as well as the Campaign Finance Reform bill. He warned that “if we mess up our independence, our colonial or colonizers will come back in the form of investors. We have messed up in this thing called ‘independence’, and the evidence of that, is that we are now being governed by people calling themselves investors. But the reason those people can run our country is because they control the campaign finance. Because when the election is over, it’s not them who are running the country, it’s the people who financed their campaign to get them there!”

   He lamented the fact that a draft of the Campaign Finance Reform bill, “has existed for 20 years”.  “We want it turned into law,” he demanded, then he commented, “This is just slavery by another name.” He cited the minimum wage of $5.00 per hour, and noted that it takes 3 hours’ wages at that rate to buy a gallon of gas. “We are stuck as a society, if we don’t do something about that. We need to start to see this new plantation, that we are stuck in a slave mill. We need to do better than that as a country, 45 years and it’s … we still are? It’s as if we are regressing.”

PSU calls for integrity or resignations

   PSU president Dean Flowers also addressed those at the press conference and said, “To fix this broken system, I want to refer to the People’s United Party’s Plan Belize manifesto of 2021. The people that we continue to elect to office consider us a bunch of fools, and are unapologetic about it. They promised good and transparent governance, to hold accountable those who betrayed public good. Does this mean, then, the Prime Minister’s next public statement will be that Oscar Mia and Florencio Marin [Jr.] will never return to Cabinet? Ever?”

   “Does this mean then that the Minister of Public Service needs to be held accountable for having a Good Governance Unit for the last 5 years and led the Ministry of Religious Affairs? What has been accomplished in the best interests of the people under your stewardship?”

  He went on to state, “The Integrity Commission, who after several appointments can’t even produce one report, one single report; and they were just reappointed. They said they would modify the membership and provide adequate funding to the commission.” He recalled that the commission was “to take measures to reduce ministers’ discretionary power in order to increase administrative efficiency and eliminate where possible political intervention”. “Yet nothing has changed in the way ministers continue to dictate what happens and what doesn’t happen. We have a piece of legislation whereby the Prime Minister attempts to single-handedly control the largest revenue authority in the nation,” he remarked.

   Flowers went on to state, “The office of the Contractor General will be strengthened by the enactment of the Public Contracts Commission. Where is that commission? To ensure full compliance with established rules and procedures, the Contractor General, who was also recently reappointed, was written [to] by myself, who is a public officer in accordance with the Contractor General Act, to say that you need to do something to investigate the corruption that we’re pointing out to you, and that has been pointed out to you. The Contractor General, who was recently appointed, has not even acknowledged that correspondence! I think that if the Contractor General of this [nation] cannot face the media and explain why she has done absolutely nothing with the powers vested in her, I think she needs to do the honorable thing and resign.” He called on the Auditor General Maria Rodriguez to use her vested authority, “to instruct the Director of Public Prosecutions under the Criminal Code or any other law, for people to be charged and prosecuted. This democracy is of the people, from amongst us, by the people. We get to decide. We are the reason you have a job on a salary in the House.”

   He warned the elected government that “the people are on the brink. In the Public Service, we have a very serious fight coming up, whereby this draft Revenue Authority Bill … the Public Service Union has taken time out to look at comparative legislation in Trinidad, Guyana, and Jamaica; and in every single measure where workers’ protections are concerned, but the Belize draft bill drops far below these three countries.’”

   “The most dangerous effect in the draft Revenue Authority Bill has nothing to do with pensions and workers’ protection. It has everything to do with checks and balances, who calls the shots. The draft Bill creates a Board that is called an advisory board. It strips that executive body of all executive authority where operations, supervision, or decision-making is concerned. It even strips the advisory body from giving directions to the CEO, and it removes any ability to effect or implement any policy other than to advise. All the power instead flows from one person: a minister, who appoints and removes the CEO. The CEO can only be appointed by [the] minister, and can only be removed by the minister. There is no independent selection panel to even assess the competence of this individual,” Flowers declared.

   “So, we must ensure that the manner in which the CEO of the soon-to-be Revenue Authority is established, that there is a clear and competitive process whereby there is serious debate on the integrity and competency of that person. If the CEO wants something, he seeks the approval of the minister. If the minister wants to do something, he instructs the CEO. And that is dangerous, because that is setting precedent; that is how we will run all our statutory bodies,” he said.

  He then explained, “It means that they will strip the BTL board. For example, the Social Security Board, they have certain authority right now over the CEO. I encourage you Senators to read it, and I encourage those Ministers with a little bit of sense to reject this Bill in its current form.” He warned that PSU members were ready to be at the House meeting to demonstrate in protest against this bill, and he called on the Director General to explain the status of that $10 million debt owed by a politically connected businesswoman.

   He also called for the ministry to adequately address those workers’ situations in the Department of Transport, where a $19 million loan is at their disposal, and to ensure that due respect and consideration is given to workers’ rights and the benefits already accrued and earned and deserved by the officers within the department.

    He then shifted his attention to a different matter. “We need to bring the situation of the kidnapping of Joseph Budna by members of the Police Department to a close,” Flowers said. “Everybody must be held accountable, everybody,” he commented. To the DPP, he declared, “We need to know how the investigation is going, because if the Commissioner needs to demit office, then and so be it. And if anybody above him needs to demit office, then so be it.”

Reform BDF procurement practices, reduce Government spending

   “The Ministry of Defence procurement scam cannot be swept under the rug,” Senator Dennison warned. “It is showing us the weakness in our procurement system; and so, it doesn’t matter if we double or triple the Budget. If the leakages don’t stop, monies will not be available for people of Belize to have in their pockets. The taxes don’t need to be raised, if we are using the monies efficiently.” He called on everyone who has a family member in the BDF to post on their Facebook or Instagram pages, and asked them to “show me where the baby back ribs is, where is the jumbo shrimp?”

   He cited the checks and balances which existed under the previous Permanent Secretary system, under which the Permanent Secretary ensured continuity in government policy through changes of government, with full integrity and accountability, which “we developed through a culture of public officers that were of the highest caliber and highest integrity, and they would never have taken an instruction from a minister for the invoices. They never would have approved something like that, without going through the correct procurement processes.” In this regard, he said, the highest permanent secretary in the land was the Cabinet Secretary, who was above reproach, who “would have never [been] caught with his hand in a cookie jar or the ‘spice’ and get caught lying about it.”

   He called on the government to “fight the rising cost of living”.  “We need one sensible plan to deal with the cost of living. There are people out here who are committing crimes, because they can’t do better! We have to create opportunities for people out there. This economic hardship that is driving crime needs a proper plan for us to attack poverty. You need to create opportunities, instead of ensuring that the people who financed the campaigns are the people who get the milky contracts,” he said.

BNTU demands Resource Allowance and pay scale adjustment for ITVET teachers

   “If nothing changes, nothing happens,” lamented BNTU president Nadia Caliz. She noted that teachers are having to buy teaching materials for their classrooms, which is biting into their disposable income that has less buying power every day, so Caliz promised: “We will go after our resource allowance. This resource … in St. Lucia, I was so proud of my brother from Grenada when he shared the last Caribbean Teachers Union executive meeting: all the governments have decided that they are going to give their teachers, to assist them with the acquisition of school resources. Over and over and over again, we’ve been asking for the same thing!”

   She cited that teachers have been suffering from burnout, because they take work home with them and noted that they get paid for 10 months of teaching, the academic year, and spread those 10 months’ salaries over 12 months, so that they may have a paid ‘vacation’. “Back in the day, we enjoyed our July and August. Today it’s July or part of July and August. We’re telling them publicly, we are coming back for August,” Caliz warned.

   “We’re coming back for our professional development. Management has updated within the system where professional development can be given throughout the school year. Teachers get the opportunity for rest … their families … where they are abused, because the partner cannot give the kind of attention she deserves, the children deserve,” she said.

  She then declared, “This BNTU has decided, we are going to look after the wellness of our teachers.” “Once again, our teachers are in-between; they’re lost in transition. The salary of that teacher will be higher. But when you are under the Education Act, and you have an Associate degree. We have been punishing people when we have not been doing what we need to do to fix the system, and we are comfortable like that!” she said.

   She called for an adjustment to the pay-scale system of vocational teachers. “Those high school teachers have been the backbone of all these other institutions. These same high school teachers that stop there for years, they have been the ones holding up what we call the trade school concept in this country; and this is how they’re being treated, because we want them to go and get up [to] Bachelor’s degree in Education, when their particular areas of specialization come with their own competencies,” she mentioned.

   “More and more of our educators are leaving the classrooms. More and more of our educators are signing up for participant learning,” she said. This creates an anomaly where teachers do not have tenure, and the management does not inform the teachers that it’s temporary employment. “It is not until you want to apply for certain benefits, or get appointed, you find that they can’t appoint you, because you’re not in a full-time position. So, they have to fix it, or that kind of continue to happen. It has to be fixed,” she demanded.

   “Our teachers need to feel appreciated,” she said. She cited her recent experience in the United States where “there’s a sign that says, ‘if you’re a teacher, and you show your ID, you get a 20 percent discount,” and she found that even her Belizean credential made her eligible.

   The unions had postponed their demonstration planned for Tuesday, August 18, but they collectively warned that if the government does not move to address their demands, they are ready to take to the streets. Caliz highlighted the fact that her neon green T-shirt was fluorescent, which demonstrates their readiness to protest and demonstrate “night and day”!    “Justice delayed is justice denied. We’re suffering!” she exclaimed. She called for the establishment of a disciplinary tribunal to hold accountable those teachers who are doing things they should not do. “The BNTU isn’t condoning anybody. Let the system work. Place the tribunal,” and she said this was needed urgently, immediately.