They voted in favor of lending $10 million of Social Security's money and because of that unionists Horris Patten and Antonio Gonzalez have been removed from Social Security's Board of directors.
The NTUCB held an emergency meeting last night where both men were given the option to resign. The CWU's Antonio Gonzalez opted to step down, but NTUCB President Horris Patten refused to do so and he was voted out. Taking their place on the board are PSU president Dylan Reneau and BNTU Branch President Elena Smith.
It's a sharp change of direction because both Reneau and Smith are known as union hardliners whereas Gonzalez and Patten were seen as moderates.
And while Gonzalez and Patten have been dumped, the NTUCB today sent out a statement explaining that their vote was not completely without reason. Patten and Gonzalez reported to the NTUCB that they never saw the cautionary letter from attorney Michel Chebat, the documents on the loan were presented to them the very same day, and the board never saw the agreement between Sunshine Holdings and the Government of Belize. Now the NTUCB says the decision made by their members was bad and in fact they, "violated protocols by not consulting with the NTUCB on such a major issue."
The Opposition and the Chamber of Commerce have also condemned the loan and today spear issued a statement doing the same thing. But for all this outrage, the loan has been approved by the board and, as we understand it, the money will be disbursed shortly.
