Christian Workers Union says Labor Dept. is dragging its feet

But the Christian Workers’ Union’s problems do not end with the Port of Belize; they also contend that the Labour Department has not been responding to their requests in a timely fashion.

Antonio Gonzalez, President, C.W.U.
“We have lodged these issues with the Ministry of Labour through the Labour Commissioner but it seems that they are dragging their feet on issues. And most of the time our membership blame the leadership of the union. And it’s not because we are not doing our work, it is because through the process and through the legal procedure within the Collective Agreement we need to address it through the Ministry of Labour through the Labour Commissioner. So we are here today to protest against the Ministry of Labour for failure to address the issue.”

Marion Ali
“I know that you spoke with the Prime Minister this morning. What did he tell you?”

Antonio Gonzalez
“As usual, he has been a friend of ours and he has said that he will address certain issues and we need to discuss it further on Monday. But he didn’t give any promise or anything like that, but he says he will look into it but he needs further discussion on Monday.”

That meeting will take place between the C.W.U. and Prime Minister Dean Barrow next Monday. Gonzalez says if today’s picket and Monday’s meeting do not yield satisfactory results, then the C.W.U. will plan a bigger demonstration. News Five tried to reach Labour Commissioner, Ivan Williams, to get his reaction to the Union’s allegations that his department has been slow in addressing the concerns of the union. However, we were told that he was in a meeting and would be unavailable for the remainder of the day.