Last night, we told you about the latest circular coming out of the
Ministry of Finance, which finalizes that the Barrow Government will
forego this year’s increment for teachers and public officers.
As has been widely reported, the unions, but specifically the Public
Service Union, wanted were not in support of this proposal from the
Government that they forego the increment; they want it deferred -
meaning, pay us later.
After a back and forth with the Government, and a bit of chiding from
the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the two sides have agreed
that the increment will be foregone. Additionally, the unions benefit
from the arrangement because the government has also committed to
revisiting the issue of the annual increment several years from now
after the economy rebounds.
Yesterday evening, just before the start of the news, the leadership of
the PSU hosted a sort of Facebook public meeting for its members to
discuss a few matters related to this circular.
Here’s how the Union’s President explained what the memo from the
Ministry of Finance means for public officers:
Gerald Henry - President, PSU
"It’s basically a follow up to the initial circular #5 that was sent
out from the Ministry of Finance, and there was a previous addendum #1
to that circular. Addendum #2 came as a result of additional
negotiations with the Ministry of Finance, the FinSec, and the PM. So,
what happened is that the unions engaged negotiating additional - or I
should say some - to reduce the impact of the initial circular #5 that
came out from the Ministry of Finance. And so, what we ended up with is
that the initial position from the PM was that the increment [would be
foregone], and that would have been pretty much the end of it. But, we
managed to negotiate with him and the Fin Sec, as I said, and we
managed to reach to the point whereby the increments will now be added
to our benefits at the time of retirement. So, that is definitely a
plus for us because it is not completely foregone. And additionally, we
had managed to negotiate with the PM to get the increment added to
those who would be leaving the public service, even if it is that they
wouldn’t be getting their gratuity because they have not met the
10-year requirement for gratuity. If they go off on medical grounds, as
well, even if it is 2 years or whatever the time period is that they
have been working, that increment will now be added back to the
calculation of their benefits. And so, in essence, we would lose just
the one increment that we have agreed to forego, which is going to be
the increment for 2020/2021. So, that’s basically where we are right
now with regards to that. Several things we managed to negotiate. Just
as an information’s sake, one of the things that had originally come
out as well was the issue of leave being reduced. And we managed to
also get that to be taken off the table. So, we will remain with all
our leave intact. And it’s only the information that is present in the
addendum #2 that we’ll actually foregoing and making the sacrifices on.
So, we remain with all our leave, and the only thing we’ll be giving up
is that amount of 1 increment for 2020/2021."
Of important note is that the Union is still pointing out other areas
of public spending that the Barrow Administration can rein in, which
would decrease the cost of running the Government. To this end they
have put out this notice, asking the public to help end government
wastage snap pictures of government vehicles rolling around on weekend
or holiday outings. Those who submit pictures can get into a weekly
raffle for $25.00.
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