June 14th 2021 was the first time the public officers saw their pay slashed by 10%.
It came after weeks of demonstration long hours of meetings that went well into the night, and hours-long press conferences that culminated in the unions putting down their swords and enduring the pay cut.
And though the Public Service Union, the Belize National Teachers Union, and the Association of Public Service Senior Managers rallied their troops and threatened to shut down the country, the PUP stood unmoved in the face of thousands of public sector workers.
But while those public officers struggled with paying bills and putting food on the table after the cut, the economy bounced back - so much so that even the IMF was impressed. And in a letter to the Joint Union Negotiating Team today, the PM thanked them for the sacrifice and announced that by July 1st, their salaries would be restored in full.
In the letter, the prime minister says, quote, "Rather than retrench as the experts recommended, my administration chose for people to keep their jobs but share the burden. Although we accept that many of you did not agree with such decision, we felt this was the best way for Belize… As you know, those IMF recommendations include that we do not fully restore wages and salaries yet, that at best we only do a partial restoration this year in line with inflation. Just as we chose to undertake our own homegrown fiscal and economic recovery plan against the advice of the IMF, we respectfully disagree with the IMF on this recommendation once again… Your members should not carry this level of burden any longer." End quote.
But while July 1st is the date that the unions would have been looking forward to for over a year, the removal of the pay cut is the only thing that's promised - for now, the increments will remain frozen for the next two fiscal years unless the government can achieve an end-of-year primary surplus as a percentage of GDP of no less than 3.5%. Additionally, the work week for public officers and teachers will also revert to the normal work week of 39.5 hours per week.
