It's become all too common to hear of sexual offenses committed against minors weekly, and often the accused is someone close to the family and the victim. These cases have led to public calls for a National sex offenders registry, so the public can be aware of convicted predators in their communities. Yesterday the Prime Minister said he fully supports a public registry.
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"I think it is something that the time has come, there has been one but It has not been public in cabinet we brought it up and everybody immediately jumped and said yes we support the special envoy I don't think they want to be on her wrong side I guess but on a serious note it is something that is necessary and of course there are certain tiers of reporting that has to be done and the attorney general brought it up and everybody said please proceed we support it."
Reporter-
"How do you think it will further protect or benefit children?""
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"Well if you know there is predator in your community and you see that person by the corner shop and you send your children there obviously it should be able to give us another layer of protection."
Big Win For Trade Unions At ICJ
Today the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion on the right to strike by trade unions and employees. They sided with the trade unions, solidifying their right to strike under the International Labor Organization Convention 87. While in Belize, workers have the right to strike, there are some countries who do not have that right. According to the PSU president, there is celebration all around because of this judgement.
Dean Flowers, PSU President
"This is an issue that had brought several pieces of, it had caused a friction between the tripartite bodies at the ILO. And so, the ILO structure is one of government, workers and employers. And there there was a consistent debate over the right to strike as was envisioned by trade unions under ILO convention. 87, which is the right to organize and the freedom of association. And so, to break that impasse, the Committee of experts on that tripartite organization of the ILO referred the question to the International Court of Justice as to whether or not the right to strike was included, or was vested in their law convention 87 and trade unions across the world is celebrating today that the court's advisory opinion is that, yes, workers and employers are going to position, do have a right to strike under ILO convention 87."
"to quote our comrade from Pakistan, he said, workers go on strike when dialogue is ignored, when promises are broken and when decisions are imposed. And Belize is not alienated from the from those deficiencies by employers, they ignore us, they break their promises and they impose on us terms and conditions that we never agreed to or discussed. "
"it demonstrates that when unions engage in strike or when workers engage in strike, it is not an act of protest. It is it is a fundamental freedom to associate with those workers who have a legitimate concern about what is happening in their workplace. And hence my comment that I am hoping that this advisory opinion will be taken into consideration by the Labor Department as they engage in the revision of the Labor Act and as they engage in the revision of chapter 300 and chapter 304, which registers and recognizes employees and employers organizations, and I think that any revision in the Trade Unions Recognition and Registration Act should reflect the right to strike in it and should safeguard the dignity and the protection guaranteed to all workers under ILO convention 87."
Flowers added that while this is a win at the ICJ, right here in Belize, the PSU is currently battling the government regarding an unanswered Freedom of Information request.
Dean Flowers, PSU President
"as we speak, I want to remind the Belizean government that you are ignoring the dialogue. The public service Union is trying to engage you in. The Financial Secretary has breached the Freedom of Information Act for months. Our Freedom of Information requests on the disclosure of certain contracts that attempts to digitalize the human resources function of public services has gone unanswered. There is no ombudsman to whom we can go and complain. And so, as we speak, the only other option is now for us to explore our legal option, which should not be the last resort. And so we have a reason right now to declare a trade dispute against the Government of Belize for violation by the Ministry of Finance and the financial sector from adhering to the law."
"when decisions are imposed without consultation. Well, we all know this is the trademark of this Briceno administration imposing terms and conditions that we never negotiated for. We see that with the companies registry that was staturized. We see that with the heavy handed manner in which they were attempting to staturize or make the services department a semi-autonomous authority. We see that where they were attempting to introduce this digitalization for each our HR management functions, we see that where they simply impose change of salaries, change of allowances, change of every single aspect of promotions and appointments without the necessary consultation that is vested in the regulation that is vested in the collective bargaining agreement. And so there's a whole lot of reasons why the public service union or any other union for that matter, can go on strike."
The matter of the right to strike began as far back as 2012, but the governing body didn't agree to refer it to the ICJ until November 2023.
