Teachers Picket Outside B.N.T.U.’s Meeting with P.M.

As the Prime Minister Barrow and the unions negotiated for hours inside the Biltmore, outside the hotel, teachers were out in support waiting for any word of progress.  In those tense moments, the teachers weighed in as to the way forward.

Teacher

“Tomorrow would be a good day to go back in so that you can basically get everything is place and when you get back in Monday, it is just right back into the flow.”

Isani Cayetano

“As an educator, have you had a chance to sit down and look at the delicate balance of being out here and standing up for your righteous cause versus the idea that you may very well be short-changing some of the students who need to be in school learning their lessons on a daily basis?”

Teacher

“Well basically what I have been thinking about is how I am going to catch up on the work that I need to do because trust me the work has to be covered; there is no doubt about that. So my task is to figure out how I am going to get my task accomplished.”

Isani Cayetano

“What is the overall sentiment from some of your colleagues? I know you’ve been gathered for over two and a half hours waiting, what have they been talking about in terms of what they want to see come out of this lengthy deliberation?”

Teacher

“Well basically what we are hoping that the Prime Minister will do is to sign and to agree to what we are asking because really and truly, most of them come without a financial burden.  So I think he is just playing stubborn. He doesn’t want it to seem like the union can get him to budge. So it’s basically just his macho-ism that he is trying to protect. And who is getting hurt? The kids, basically. But, we will have to make up our work—no doubt about that. When Mitch was coming, we were out of school for a week and we had to make up for the work. So in terms of getting the work covered, I don’t think that is a problem.”

Isani Cayetano

“It goes without saying that the teachers stand firm with their resolve in terms of these eight points that have been put forward to the government. Do you believe, individually, that this is a righteous cause for you guys to stand being—either for your own personally or for the greater good of the nation of Belize?”

Teacher

“When you are the member of a union; there are things that you may not agree with, but because you are a member of that union, you will go along with the union. The way our union operates is we go to membership and so the majority decides the way forward and that is how we’ve been governed. So like in the first instance, for me personally I was saying I don’t care about the three percent; Dean can take that and give it to his brother. I don’t care about the three percent, but I am with my union.”

Immediately after the conclusion of the negotiations with the Prime Minister, the teachers caucused in their meeting to determine the next step. At this time, there is still no word if strike action continues this Friday. Our news crew is on standby for word from that meeting.