At around 3:00 this afternoon, dozens of BTL employees walked out of the telephone company’s St. Thomas Street Compound. It was only for a few minutes, but was just a slight flex of the union’s muscle to tell the BTL management that they are not pleased.

The union refused to grant any comment, but we understand that there is a growing disagreement between them and the management over what the union says is a standstill in the negotiations for the collective bargaining agreement.

This collective bargaining agreement is what determines the salary and benefits that the BTL employees are entitled to, and it is re-negotiated every 3 years.

Our information is that the main delay at this point is that the union is aggrieved that the management has not been adhering to a memorandum of understanding. The spirit of that MOU is that the management is to share information with the union whenever it is considering changes that affect staff. The union claims that hasn’t been happening recently, and we are told that the employees are not pleased that they only learn about decisions that affect after the fact.

At this point, there’s no telling if the Belize Communications Workers Union intends to escalate its industrial action further than today's rather tame event.