If you were late to work today, well, you definitely weren't the only one. Across the country, those heading their places of employ were delayed up to an hour as the BNTU blocked all major highways across the country.
Like the last blockage which happened a little under a month ago, the unionists propped up their hoods and pretended that there was some issue with their vehicle. But unlike the last time around, this blockage lasted for much more than 15 minutes.
Courtney Menzies has a quick scan of the situation from all six districts.
The BNTU is back in full force and struck hard this morning with a countrywide blockage of all major highways.
From about 7 this morning, the teachers, in their customary green shirts, parked their cars in the middle of the road in Corozal Town and Libertad, feigning engine failure.
Around the same time, there was a similar scene in Carmelita Village. The members struck early so as to immobilize those who needed to commute to other districts to reach their workplaces.
Many of those commuters were travelling here, to Belize City, where - if they escaped the blockage on the Phillip Goldson Highway - they would have been met with another on the Haulover Bridge.
And if by chance they made it into the city, well, they would have to hope they didn't need to utilize any of the other bridges. There were cars placed across the Belcan, Belchina, and Chetumal Street Bridges.
And even those living in the city had to deal with long queues of traffic as police and traffic officers tried to keep north south traffic flowing in a city where 75% of the bridges were blocked.
Perhaps the largest traffic jam was seen in the Cayo District. This drone shot taken at mile 47 shows the miles of traffic backed up, and on the other side it caused a line of traffic that extended from Roaring Creek to Camalote Village. And residents there were held up for about 45 minutes.
A woman in labor was even caught in the chaos as she made her way to the Western Regional Hospital. However, while others were made the wait, the union members blocking the road allowed her to pass and she was able to give birth safely at the hospital.
Further west, 5 teachers were detained for allegedly trying to set a tyre fire on the road coming out of Succotz. This led their branch members to protest in front of the police station.
On the John Smith Road the commuters had to wait for an entire hour. And in the south, things were no different. There was traffic backed up in Dangriga NEAR THE Southern Regional Hospital… And in Toledo, our colleagues at PGTV were on the Joe Taylor Bridge which had been blocked and got some interviews from the protestors.
Teacher
"When the present prime minister was in opposition, he protested with us. He demonstrated with us. Promising us that when we form the next government, that he would honor the demands of the teachers. Now that they're government, they plan to ignore us and we cannot continue to tolerate this. We demand accountability, transparency and good governance."
But did this move get the public on their side? Well, while many took to social media in support of the unions, there were still others who felt that blocking the highways was a selfish move and would only turn the public against the unions.
Best indications are that the traffic blocking campaign will not continue tomorrow.
But, the joint unions have planned a press conference for tomorrow afternoon. It was originally scheduled for today, but it was postponed.
Later, we will hear from the PSU president on the union's position after its last meeting with GOB.
