During that extended conversation, the PSU Chairman stressed that the union is very concerned about the well-being of the retired public officers who can't get their retirement benefits. He made the point that these officers should not be forced to suffer after their long years of service:
Dean Flowers, President, Public Service Union
"While my members continue to suffer, whether it be waiting for confirmation - which there were several, or appointments, which there is also quite a number, for me, the biggest concern is the retirees. The retirees have given so much of themselves to the people and Government of Belize, and who have already been inconvenienced by poor administration within the public service and within the line ministries, whose file might have gone to the Treasury Department incomplete, which had to be returned, and who have been waiting for well over a year - and in some cases over three years - to get their super annuity benefits. These are people who, I guess most of them, are currently doing 'catch-and-kill' work to be able to survive. So, it is one thing that they were wronged by having to wait so long. And now to compound that, now that for many of them whose file might now be complete, they have to wait until this administration - or that the Office of the Prime Minister can identify somebody that they're comfortable with, to be appointed to the chairman, instead of simply saying that we will identify a competent Belizean, regardless of our views. Regardless of how we feel about that person or that person has carried him or herself respectively throughout his or her career, we'll put that person there to ensure that the work of the commission continues."
President Flowers and the Union are also calling for the government to pay these retirees their outstanding benefits, along with interest, as a form of acknowledgment for the extended delay. Here's how he justified that position:
Dean Flowers, President, Public Service Union
"We believe that because of the delay in the payments, which is totally the fault of the government, it is only fair that the monies which were due to these individuals, where their gratuities are concerned, that they be paid with interest. When the government owes its political financiers, whether it's via a court judgment or otherwise, They pay them with interest. And in business, when you or somebody, you pay them with interest. When taxpayers, such as public officers and the business community, owe the government tax, they must pay them with interest. The government has a duty and a responsibility. Therefore, these individuals' benefits are due to them with interest. And I dare say that these individuals should seek legal advice to take the government to Court if it is that the gratuity is not paid with interest. Even at the Lands Departments, when they're compensating people, they compensate them with interest. All payments across the country are done with interest. So, why is it that the most vulnerable group of people whom the government has money for, which are retirees, cannot receive their money with interest because of the failure of the government to ensure that they are paid on a timely basis? And so, we stand by that, and we believe it is the right thing for the government to do. Pay these people their gratuity with interest."
