'They reserve the right to protest,' that's what the unions signed to in their February 11th agreement with government and today that's what they did. Today representatives from the National Trade Union Congress of Belize traveled to Belmopan and again demonstrated against the government's taxes and the slug's pace of reform. But this time there was no massive crowd, no violence, and hardly any angry clashes with police. Our team was there.
Alfonso Noble Reporting,
Today's demonstration has not gathered the crowd or the militancy of the January 21st demonstration, but union leaders say that their resolve to get their points across cannot be questioned.
Dylan Reneau, PSU President
"Don't judge the resolve by what you see out here. You have to certainly understand that the government was trying all it could to diffuse what we were trying but you can see that there is still resolve. People are still out here and as Brother Hubert said just now we are going to take this thing to its end."
Zenaida Moya, PSU
"You don't have to be bringing out all bunch of buses just to get this point across but if we do it right along, continuously, keeping up the pressure the Ministers and the powers that be will get the sense that this is something that will not die."
Dylan Reneau,
"We stepped back a little to see if this government was serious about change; if they wanted to reform, if they wanted to listen to the people, and what we've seen thus far has not shown that they are serious about that. So this thing can go back up to that point where we can withdraw our labor again. So it can go back to a strike."
Zenaida Moya,
"We always have to regroup, we always have to listen to the people that should and will be helping us in making our stance. We had gone into the two week process, as the budget working group, we had gone in there during that two weeks. We tried to try to negotiate and speak with government to get them to listen to our cries as it pertains to the tax measures. That did not happen. Of course we have to agree that that two weeks slowed down things a bit as it pertains to our momentum but no, right now we are rallying and we just want to keep up the momentum. This will continue through."
Dylan Reneau,
"This is just the beginning. You don't start with your biggest push, you start with your smallest to show that you're still after your goal."
But if today's goal was to make those inside the National Assembly hear them, it was quite difficult as new barricades were erected at the foot of the National Assembly complete with barbwire and new rules for the press. We were asked to be either at a place where we could neither see or hear anything or inside the crowd. In the end every media house chose the latter. But while the barricades and the policemen kept the union and their message at a safe distance from the house but that did not dissuade the unions from protesting.
Zenaida Moya,
"We have not reached a mutually agreed upon solution as it pertains to taxes and therefore we have to remind government, we have to continue telling government, that we are not in support of those tax measures. They need to reform in areas that they very well know they need to. The tax increases will be hurting the people. We will keep up the pressure and I hope that they will be listening to us. The unions are a peaceful set of people, we represent workers, but right now we are representing the people as well. Now we are trying to do this peacefully. It is not only the unions and I believe as these increases start to get the impact on the poorer class of people, those people who feel that they don't have anything to live for anyway, they don't have any jobs, they don't know where their next meal will come from; those are the ones that this government will need to deal with. So I am urging this government to stop ignoring the people."
Dylan Reneau,
"We don't want any new taxes and we want reform. In fact I have a speech that the Prime Minister himself said, you want me to play it? He is saying that the taxes are performing and that they don't need to raise taxes; it is true."
Paul Perriot, BWCU President
"We are a part of the TUC so we are in support of the national movement with regards to the oppression with the taxes that would be passed today. So we are a part of the NTUCB and we are supporting the reform process, the taxation process that we are not agreeing to, and we are basically putting the message again to the Prime Minister that the people are not accepting the taxes he is looking to pass on to the poorer class of Belizeans."
Mark Butler, BEWU President
"We need to listen to the people and if the whole is crying out, definitely there is a problem."
And because of that problem unions say that their calls of reform and no new taxes may soon change. And it will change to the last word that their famous slogan says, that is: resign!
Zenaida Moya,
"They have been approaching the NTUCB; the social partners, the regular people, the regular Jane and Joe that are not a member of the NTUCB but are staunch of the unions efforts. They are the ones that are asking us to please send through that letter. This is something of course that the NTUCB would have to decide on but I must tell you that the social partners and the people, it is something that they are pushing us to do."
Paul Perriot,
"That is the definite outcry from the public in the meetings we have been having and from the other social partners that we've been meeting. So at the NTUCB level, that is where we are right now, drafting up and looking at sending that message to them and having it made public that we are calling for their resignation."
Mark Butler,
"All I am interested in is that people, no matter which Party is in, from now future generations that we get a kind of way how the other first world countries operate that when people stand up, because people don't stand up for nothing and when people stand up and the government don't listen to them then that is eventually the request, they'll be a removal."
Strong words from the unions who have showed over the past few months that they will not let up until they get what they want even if that means kicking it up one more notch to ask for government's resignation.
Despite the only modest mobilization for today's event, the unions say they will continue with their protest actions and if necessary strikes in the upcoming days.
