It was at least 96 degrees in the shade today as the NTUCB led a protest on Independence Hill to coincide with the second day of the budget debate. But the sun would prove to be the least of the NTUCB's worries. Without political muscle from the Opposition, and with BTL workers on the explicit understanding that who slips up, will fall jobless, the BNTU was risking more than a sunburn; it risked an embarrassing turnout in the face of a government only too eager to see the union movement fizzle. So what happened? Alfonso Noble and Jules Vasquez were on 'The Hill' from 9 this morning to 5:00 this evening. Here's how the day went.
Jules Vasquez& Alfonso NobleReporting,
There was open conflict on Independence Hill as the police and protestors clashed.
[Click Here to See Video Clips of Clash]
Those tense encounters all happened on the Hill. That is where protestors were not supposed to go according to the terms of the bond they signed which said they 9 am to 3 pm on the stairs of Independence Hill, not on the Hill itself. And when they did go on 'The Hill' that's when a dressed down riot squad was deployed. But to make sure tempers did not flare, the riot squad kept the back line and regular police manned the front lines.
And even if tempers did flare, the police remained confident that they could easily contain it because it was a crowd that at most swelled to only three hundred, and that's a generous estimate. PSU President Dylan Reneau bristled at our suggestion that the modest size had a deflating effect on the movement.
Dylan Reneau, PSU President
"Numbers don't really tell the tale. I will maintain that my people from the PSU have said that they don't like these marches and I have heard some
media officials like Mose Hyde, for instance said that he doesn't believe that these things work. Those that believe that it works will come out.
These things don't just happen out of thin air. It is the start, it shows that there is discontentment in the Belizean people with what is happening in this country and it is registering that discontentment and that is good enough. The people, the international community is watching, they are monitoring these things. They have an effect."
Anthony Fuentes, BNTU President
"Numbers don't matter, it is the message that we are bringing to the people to let them know that we are tired of what is going on in our country. And the BNTU has a large number of teachers and membership and so what we are saying is that we are out here to show our solidarity with the Belize Communication Worker's Union. Also what is going on in our country because the conditions under which teachers work is deplorable. The schools, the multi-grade schools in our country, the training of our principals is also important. Many of our upper division teachers are subject teachers. So it is important that if twenty five percent of the budget is geared towards education, it must reflect what is going on in our education system.
Before the issue of the PSE, there are other issues affecting our country and then as a union we have to stand up because as I said if we do not stand up now and we do not make that sacrifice today, we will pay more in the future so we need to take a stand as a union and as the NTUCB.
One of the main objectives of the BNTU is to address national issues, affecting
our country, the issue of our health, the issue of education, the issue of union busting and so on. All these are issues that affect workers of Belize and the workers of country are the key stakeholders in Belize. With a brain of muscle, not a single wheel will turn in this country."
Dylan Reneau,
"This is for the long haul and the public officers within the public service are tired of what this government has been doing to the public service and you will start to see advancement in trying to rectify these issues and more forceful advancement to try and rectify these issues."
The group with the greatest issue did not show. The Belize Communication Workers had no active representation apart from Nelson Young, one of the employees who got fired. But the woman of the hour, Christine Perriot did not show. In fact while there was a handful of energy workers and public officers, ninety percent of this crowd was comprised by teachers. So did the teachers get set up by all the other unions?
Rene Gomez, NTUCB President
"We have more teachers out here than public servants, than citizens. But this does not deter us from our actions that we intend to do down the road. What we are doing is garnering support. We will not move in hastily to any conclusions that will affect us down the road. We need to be responsible, we need to get feedback from all our camps and that is what we are doing because as I said this will not be 2005. This is 2007 and this is another leader in the NTUCB so we need to carefully look at our clear plans, where we go from here, what
will be our recommendations and what will be the outcome.
We are not moving haphazard. We will need to move in a organized manner whereby we will have the people behind us. This will only escalate Fonso, this is only the beginning. Like a brother said, this is only the tip of the iceberg. We will continue to agitate support and do what we need to do to bring these people that are in position, in power and decision making to adhere to the cries of the people and not only to a few privileged Belizeans."
And that belief that there is something worth standing up or against is brought out many and it kept them out under a blistering sun. Mose Hyde, a man who makes his living talking behind the mic, told us why the time for talk is over and the time for the frontlines is on.
Mose Hyde,
"Give up the lips and deal with the legs. I think that I can't exactly say that at this point in time that I support the intensity for all the decisions
being made by the union leaders. In that sense I don't know that there are operating in the right way but I know that they are fighting for the right cause.
We don't have the mechanisms or we might not have the political will to put the pressure so then it has to come from the people. The belief is, is that the people have to be respected but I don't think that we will be respected by sitting home. I don't think that we will be respected by just talking. I think we will be respected by governance, we will be respected by corporate moguls when they understand that we have the ability to come together, when we have the ability to stand for what we are believing in.
And I think that unless we are able to galvanize and stand strong and intensify and create the momentum - big powerful rich guys don't listen to complaints and they don't listen to talk shows, big powerful guys, they need to see force and the only way force can come, its got to come from the people."
Teacher #1,
"I think first and foremost that I am not out here only as a teacher but as a citizen of this country and I am very concerned about the amount of money that has been lost and I am very much concerned about where the commission of inquiry for DFC will end up and whether any persons will be prosecuted for all the wrongdoings that have been done.
I came out here to support unionism because I am a firm believer in the principle of unionism. However, my passion for being out here is for the love of my country and I will die for my country."
Teacher #2,
"I am in solidarity with the teachers because I am a teacher also and I could be victimized. Also for the workers, the BTL workers also who've been victimized."
Alfonso Noble,
But do you feel like you're abandoned because it seems to me that it is only teachers out here?
Teacher #2,
"Because we are the backbone of this society and if we don't do something, then who else will do it. So it is not really that we are by ourselves but they can't come, I guess they can't come. They are with us but they can't be out here."
And it is left to be seen whether today's showing will inspire that kind of thinking in a wider non-aligned cross section of the community. But at three pm when the bond expired, the body of the protestors had turned in and gone home. But the hardcore kept on and held their spots for what the police warned them was an illegal gathering which was met with a defiant rendition of the national anthem.
And that's where one team left it, while Alfonso Noble stayed back to see how far the police would go to break up what they had called an illegal gathering. He just returned from Belmopan half an hour ago and at the end of the newscast - he'll show you what happened after the bond expired and the protest became and illegal gathering.
