The Unions and Chamber of Commerce today reiterated that they will not stand for the increased taxes outlined in Prime Minister Musa's new budget, but it is unclear what exactly they are going to do about it.
The representatives from the National Trade Union of Congress of Belize which is a umbrella organization for 8 unions, representing some 15,000 workers were today still meeting and General Secretary George Frazer told us they cannot for obvious reason divulge details of their much speculated upon "Plan B." According to Frazer, government needs to make some hard decisions and the Musa administration has to demonstrate political will.
That is the also the word coming out of the Chamber of Commerce which via a press release officially registered its opposition to the budget and the reforms tabled. The Chamber noted with concern that new tax measures were passed and the reforms were "largely ignored." The Chamber observed that instead of cutting back, government actually plans to spend 15% more in the next fiscal year. The Chamber will be holding an emergency general meeting tomorrow evening at the Biltmore Hotel to "determine the way forward."
The Public Service and Belize National Teachers' Union also have council meetings planned for the next couple days to determine their way forward. Frazer again stressed the unions are willing to do whatever is necessary. He says the BNTU and PSU have much more to lose since they won't be getting their promised salary increases on April 1st. PSU President Dylan Reneau says there will be a meeting of the PSU management council on Wednesday.
