Belize's security forces are preparing tonight, as the National Trade Union Congress of Belize has announced that it is calling all unions to protest in Belmopan on Friday, to coincide with the second day of the budget debate.
An NTUCB release says that the protest is part of an effort to step up its actions to force government to comply with demands made at a press conference a week ago.
At the top of that list of demands was the re-instatement of BTL General Secretary Christine Perriot. The Labour Minister has stated that such reinstatement would be illegal. That sets the stage for Friday when the unions expect to make a strong showing.
But political observers agree that for the protest to send the message to the Musa administration, it will have to be sizeable and forceful. Information to us is that the UDP will not participate, so much will depend on the full participation of the Teachers' Union. Today the union sent a circular asking teachers to participate.
So will schools be open? Well it depends on how many teachers do participate. We do know that the Ministry of Education has refused a request from the NTUCB to release teachers to participate in Friday's protest and the Ministry's position as communicated by a spokesperson today is that school will continue as usual on Friday.
Again, that's the official position, but the union is saying that it still expects robust participation. So it's a wait and see. In March of 2005 when social unrest was at a pitch, budget debate day saw fierce battles between the unions and the opposition on one side and security forces on the other. Again, indications are that the opposition, after being publicly rebuffed by the unions, will not be mobilizing for Friday.
And while this year's protest is set for Friday, the debate starts tomorrow with statements most prominently from the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition and we'll have coverage of that in tomorrow night's newscast.
