Tonight, things are quickly coming to a head between the Government of Belize and the Joint Unions - and it's the classic case of an unstoppable force - in this case, the Government - running right into an immovable object, the joint unions.
And tonight, that collision is looking like it will result in a wage cut on the government's side, and industrial action on the union's side.
Talks over the weekend were intensive, but the sides did not arrive at a compromise - leaving the unions with a formal rejection of the government's insistence that there must be a pay cut for teachers and public officers.
Prime Minister Briceno had nothing to say to our news team after yesterday's Cabinet meeting, but tonight we know what Cabinet's position is.
7News has been provided with a paragraph of a document, which we are told was sent by a government representative to the union leaders and says, quote, "…I confirm that given the unsustainable fiscal position, Cabinet has decided that it must proceed to make material fiscal adjustments. For the upcoming 2021/2022 fiscal year, this will include salary adjustments and an increment freeze…to yield a reduction in expenditures of $60 million and $20 million respectively. Cabinet is partial to a tiered approach that places less burden on those earning less, and more burden on those earning more. But, it nevertheless welcomes the unions' recommendations on how the above-mentioned targets on salary adjustments may be achieved." End quote.
The letter adds that it would like to have the union's recommendations by Monday, April 12th.
Tonight - just before news time - the Prime Minister's office sent us a statement and here's a brief clip of that:
Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister of Belize
"On Friday the House of Representatives will meet and I will read the government's budget for fiscal year 2021/22. I will detail my government's carefully crafted plan to lift the economy from its near state and explain the measures we proposed to implement in order to end the contemptable obscene and reckless UDP spending of the people's money."
"But before Friday's speech, we felt that it was important to update you on where we are with the unions. I would describe the consultations as full, frank and courteous. I thank all those who have participated in the consultations. In light of the dire financial position of the government, we took a close look at every aspect of government's revenue and expenditure with a view to Wrighting the Ship of state. To do this, we must increase revenues and cut expenditures. We will proposed a thirty one percent cut in expenditures on goods and services by the government compared to the last budget. This is expected to reduce expenditure by 77 million dollars. We will also proposed a ten percent cut in the expenditure on subsidies and transfers compared to the last budget. This will reduce expenditure by 19 million dollars. Additionally, we expect to negotiate substantial savings upwards of 50 million dollars on the super bond to reduce government's debt service outlay."
"In the context of this reduction, it is wrong to regard our consultations to the Unions a only about a wage adjustment. The consultations covered a lot more. It is important to explain why the discussion were wide ranging and the context in which they were held. Let me frame the challenge, Government is the largest employers n Belize. There are 15 thousand public officers, including four thousand plus employed in the education system, and four thousand nine hundred in the security and border services. In 2008 when the P.U.P. left office, the wages and pension bill was 262 million dollars. In 12 years under the U.D.P. the wages and pension bill skyrocketed to 677 million dollars. An increase of a hundred and 77 percent or 415 million dollars."
The full statement will air in its entirety after the news.
