To strike or not to strike

_{Photo: BNTU president, Nadia Caliz}

by William Ysaguirre

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Dec. 5, 2024

To strike or not (for payment of overdue increments, unpaid hardship allowances and unpaid tax refunds) was the issue put to the vote by secret ballot when the Belize National Teachers Union (BNTU) held emergency meetings in all branches across the country on Thursday afternoon, December 5.

Parents of students first got wind of these events when the Chief Education Officer sent out a memorandum to the management of all government schools and grant-aided schools at pre-school, primary, secondary and tertiary levels to instruct them to allow time off to all teachers who are BTNU members, in order for them to attend a union meeting at one o’clock on Thursday.

Belize City teachers met at Swift Hall in St. Martin De Porres Parish, where they voted on whether they supported strike action or not, and on whether the strike should be in January or later in the year. The union leaders had already signaled to the Education ministry in a press release last Thursday, November 28, that “Enough is enough!” The release lamented the government’s inaction, and that three months of the academic year had gone by without teachers receiving their overdue salary increments, hardship allowance, and commuting and responsibility allowances. Where increments may be paid retroactively, the BNTU is demanding that these overdue payments be tax-free.

These issues were put to a vote by secret ballot at the nationwide meetings. In Belize City, the meeting at Swift Hall ended a little after 3 o’clock. The executive committee of each district branch will count the ballots and relay this information to the BNTU headquarters, where President Nadia Caliz, who was elected in a bye-election in April this year, and her executive committee await to hear what the members have decided.

The final decision may not be known until sometime Thursday night, and as we go to press, the latest information is that the teachers’ decision will be communicated to the members on Friday, December 6.