And in other news...
The PSU and the NTUCB continue to wrestle with the Ministry of Finance over the future shape of the Semi Autonomous Revenue Authority.
Today, the unions sent a letter to the Financial. Secretary saying that the current proposal for the Transition of the Belize Tax Service Department to a Semi-Autonomous Revenue Authority is inconsistent with the agreement reached with the unions.
And that's why members of The Public Service Union of Belize and the National Trade Union Congress showed up at the Eleanor Hall building this afternoon to meet with the Fin Sec and CEO of the Ministry of Public Service to discuss the Transition.
The PSU is representing public officers who currently work in the Belize Tax Service Department as their bargaining agents. But there was nothing they could bargain for today because the Fin Sec and the CEO were at the Eleanor Hall meeting - but not to meet with the unions. PSU President Dean Flowers explained to us outside:
Dean Flowers, President, PSU
"The purpose of our presence here today is that the Financial secretary would have summoned a meeting to address, the continued discussion and dialogue, on the BTSD transitioning into a semi-autonomous revenue authority.So, we came here today, with the hope of continuing that dialogue to ensure that the Belizean people get value for money, where $28 million in taxpayers dollars have been expended without any, justification as to how it was spent and what was achieved as a result of that. And also moving past that, we would have discussed the government's proposal to transition BTSD into a semi-autonomous revenue authority. Unfortunately, we got here and, without any real communication to the union. We were informed that the meeting had been canceled. It's unfortunate that you didn't get the opportunity to ask the financial secretary and the undersecretary or the CEO in the Ministry of Public Service their reason for not showing up to the meeting, they were here. But I guess, the presence of the employees who stood in solidarity with welcoming us today. And I must recognize that strong show of trade unionism. That is what you do. You stand beside each other to assert your position. We have a mandate from the membership. We have a mandate from the employees that are directly affected. And we have delivered that mandate to the Financial Secretary and the government of Belize, and we expect that as servants to the people that they will listen, that they will invite us back again around the negotiating table and that we will negotiate a smooth transition from a government department, if it is that it is justifiable and that we will ensure that we get it right this time, because we sure as hell did not get it right under the amalgamated Department."
