Last month, we told you about all those Ministry of Transport workers who were fired on the newly established George Price holiday.
It's part of the Briceno Government's house cleaning of open vote workers, and now that the dust has settled, we've been reliably informed that 55 employees were terminated from bus terminals countrywide.
And while politically affiliated open vote workers are regularly purged by incoming administrations, they also have to be paid when they're sent home.
And that's why one of those employees has since come forward to complain to 7News that it's been almost 2 months, and the government has failed to pay him and his other colleagues their severance packages.
He's Othon Castillo, a former supervisor of the Corozal Bus Terminal, and he tells us that he has been working at the Transport Ministry for 8 years and 3 months. He says that ever since they were given their walking papers, their former superiors at the Transport Department keep offering them excuses as to why they can't get their money.
Here's his telephone interview with us to complain about the continued violations of his rights under the Labor laws:
Othon Castillo Jr. - Ex Supervisor, Corozal Bus Terminal
"We were terminated on George Price's birthday. Actually, I was attacked about a week or 2 right after the election by Mr. Tirso Galvez, the Chief Transport Officer, with a recommendation for my dismissal to the CEO. At that time, we didn't have a CEO at that moment."
"Since we were terminated, so far, it's been a month to today's date, and we haven't received any payments from the Ministry as yet. Some have received part payments, but according to the labor laws, we should have been paid off 1 week after termination."
Reporter
"Was it a contract service? Were you on full staff? Or was it like an open vote worker sort of relationship?"
Othon Castillo Jr.
"Well, we were all open vote workers. I wouldn't say it was a contract because if they said that we were employed temporarily, after 8 years, I don't think that is temporary anymore."
Reporter
"How much money do you think they owe you that they have failed to pay as yet?"
Othon Castillo Jr.
"So far, from my calculations, it's a bit over $9,000 Belize for the service that I had rendered for the 8 years to the Government of Belize."
Reporter
"What has been your challenge in trying to get that money? Explain as clearly as you can. Are they even acknowledging that they owe you?"
Othon Castillo Jr.
"Well yes, they have acknowledged that they owe us the money but every week, it's a different story. First, they said that since we were terminated, we were terminated out of the government's payroll system. So, they were to pay us by payables. We had to reapply to get back into the system through a vendor form, which is a standard procedure by the government. They said that it took a while to get us back into the system. We understood all of that. The calculations are straightforward. This is the second time I have been terminated under the PUP, and honestly, the first time, it only took a week for me to get my benefits and my payments from the Government of Belize. So, this time it has been an uphill battle every week. It's the same story over and over. This week it will happen; Friday it will happen."
Castillo tells us that he and his colleagues are discussing the possibility of retaining attorneys to take their case to the Supreme Court.
