They have been insisting that the President and the Board of Trustees have made calculated attempts at cutting them out of the very difficult conversation on how the institution will survive a budgetary shortfall of 7.1 million dollars.

We'll tell you about how the Labour Ministry is attempting to expedite the full certification of their faculty and staff union. But, we start first with a discussion we had this evening with Education Minister Patrick Faber, about the major cut in the university's subvention.

With a reduction of over 20% and the projected revenue loss due to financially-stressed students being unable to pay school fees, the university is staring down the prospect of cuts and staff lay-offs. You'll remember how the PUP pointed fingers at the Barrow Government as the main cause of the university's plight.

So, today, we asked Faber about that, and here's what he had to say:

He also took issue with the comments which Francis Fonseca, his predecessor, made to the press 1 week ago. Fonseca was particularly critical of government's approach to the progress and development of the university. Well, Faber said that Fonseca was misrepresenting:

Faber also had a few comments to make about the quarrel between the Faculty and Staff Union on one side, and the President and the Board on the other.

As we told you, part of the problem that the union is facing is that are only 1 step away from being fully certified as a union. The delay is not of their making, and they are insisting that the Board is using that technicality to avoid fair and open dialog.

Here's Faber's take on that:

This evening, the Ministry of Labour, Local Government, and Rural Development sent out a press release clarifying why they have been unable to finish up with the union's full certification.

That lengthy press release says, quote, "A meeting of the Tripartite Body was scheduled for January 29, 2020, which would have dealt with this matter, but this was postponed to the next meeting to address issues raised by the University of Belize. The meeting that should have been held on February 26, 2020, was postponed due to the illness of the Chairman. The next meeting should have been held on March 25, 2020, but due to the COVID-19 public health crisis, it was not. Thereafter, the Ministry closed its offices to the public and reopened in May…

The Ministry now advises that the Labour Department has been in consultation with the members of the Tripartite Body, which has agreed to bring forward the meeting to Monday, July 13, 2020."