Cabinet received an update from the Ministerial Consultation Team on their last meeting with the joint unions. They agreed to a letter of clarification that should be sent to the Joint Unions to reinforce key concessions from government including the 5-hour work-week reduction, debt forbearance and for the National Trade Union Congress of Belize to propose a nominee to serve on the National Bank's board of directors. The letter also reminds that any public officer continuing to strike after May 14 will not be paid any salary for any period on strike thereafter.
But, still the unions have not been moved, and remain on strike. Last night on UnCut, they reiterated their demands for good governance. But, they also admitted that they don't always see eye-to-eye. Last week, the first VP of the PSU explained his personal beliefs that it may be time to step back.
But this is not the opinion of all the union leaders – and while they may disagree on certain things, APSSM president Sharon Frazer explained that they must be selfless as a unit in order to succeed.
Jules Vasquez "Is there unanimity amongst the unions? Last week Friday I heard Dean Flowers sounded like he was wavering. Is there unanimity amongst joint unions?"
Sharon Frazer - President, APSSM "For the most part yes. There might be some issues as it relates to the compensation issue, but we have come to recognize that compensation means more to some members than others, so it's not that I'm going to discredit what one member feels is more important to them, when in fact it they had made presentations in terms of the land tax credit for example. Sister Elena would tell you that meant nothing to her, while for me I saw that as a viable option for me, so that not because sister Elena it doesn't mean anything for her means that I'm going to discredit the position that she takes. So, I might say yes that's okay for me but then I can't walk away and say okay, fine that's okay for me, so forget the rest. I have to also look at what my sister is saying next to me. At the end of the day if we're in this together I cannot just only look after myself, I have to also ensure that she walks out, we can't win everything, I've said to people, government has in fact offered a credit package for teachers but there are public officers who their children are doing online, so a data credit package would work for public officers as well but we recognize that the offers to teachers and we went along with it. So, we recognize that it would never be something that fits all."
