Government and Union Representatives Meet  

It has been a few months since the Joint Unions’ Negotiating Teams met with government representatives and there are a few matters under review. One is a Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Government of Belize and the Public Service Union (PSU), the Belize National Teachers Union (BNTU) and the Association of Public Service Senior Managers (APSSM). That was signed in May. But there’s a new one on the table, about which discussions will commence shortly. Following the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Cordel Hydel gave reporters a summary of what was discussed.

 

Cordel Hyde, Deputy Prime Minister

“We have a Revenue Enhancement Committee at work. We have a cost savings committee at work. We have a pension reform committee at work – all these committees are working very hard and so we should be getting reports from them pretty soon. We also had a consultancy on the government pay and grade, trying to modernize how that is done. And there is an interim report that’s been provided, circulated to the members and they will have intensive discussion and deliberation on that. Revolutionary stuff is in there.”

 

Reporter

“What are some of the considerations that will have to be made for a new collective bargaining agreement?”

 

Cordel Hyde

“Well, we are not there yet. In a matter of months or so, the unions will present to government their plan, their proposal and we will then – government’s side will then look at that and see what’s workable, what can be done in the short term, what will take some time, what’s the sticking points, what are our priorities. So we’ve only just started to kind of like talk through a timeline, talk through how this will be done. In terms of the meat of it, we’re not there yet, where the unions will work in earnest over the next eight weeks to come up with, those points and then we will deal with it from there.”