Last week, BTL calmly told the country that about 20 staff members did not get their contracts renewed and were no longer employed at the company, effective immediately.
This was to quell the tension that had arisen from a Facebook post claiming that hundreds of employees were on the chopping block.
And while BTL framed the livelihoods of these 20 employees - each of whom has bills to pay and families to take care of - as simply contracts that had come to a natural end, those now jobless persons have to find a new source of income in the middle of a pandemic.
That's the case for Juwan Palacio, who came to us to share his side of the story. Palacio was a technician whose department mostly dealt with priority and VIP customers. He says he had always topped training classes and workshops and had relocated twice for the job. Because of this, he felt he had some level of job security, so you can imagine his shock when, during a Microsoft Teams meeting with various managers last week, he was told that he had been terminated. He re-played that moment for us:
Juwan Palacio, Former technician, BTL
"I felt as though that no due process was taken, it was like probably they just placed random names in a hat and pulled it out because I am one of those technicians that is skilled in what I do, apart from just doing the regular installation, we deal with PBX and we also do networking and that is what separate us from the regular technician."
"Ms Debby was the one who was leading the meeting, she said she would like to thank me for my services at Belize Telemedia and unfortunately my contract would not be renewed. So I said okay then. My manager told me he wasn't aware of the situation after the meeting was done so I don't know if my senior zone manager had an input which led them not renewing my contract but other than that they didn't say anything else or give any justification other than a clause from my previous contract that states that they could terminate you at any time they wish. But other than that, no justification or grounds were put forward for my dismissal."
"It has been very hard because like what you mention, I have bills, I have family, I need to look for a new job. It has been very hard and I had been greatly effected. When it comes to the relocation, I am originally from Dangriga but upon getting the job I was placed in Belize City so for three years I was in Belize City when the opportunity came about my previous manager told me they needed someone in Dangriga."
"The bright side is I'm skilled so instead of looking for a new job, I can create my own business as well because I'm now skilled."
According to BTL, the company regularly reviews contracts to see how to better optimize, especially since they are facing a financial crunch due to COVID.
