B.W.S.L. workers “go slow” for pay

It seems logical enough…don’t pay me, I won’t work. Well that’s just what employees of the Belize Water Services Limited did this morning, after they didn’t get paid on Thursday. B.W.S.L. field crews congested the parking lot of the corporate headquarters with their vehicles as part of a go-slow designed to send a message to management. According to union representative Benson Matthews, they just want the benefits other employees have.

Benson Matthews, Field Workers’ Representative

“As it states in our bargaining agreement, all field workers, all field crew, should get paid by 3 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. A couple weeks ago, our management sent down a memo saying that everyone that’s on a weekly paid salary, would be moved to fifteenth and ending. Most of the guys don’t mind being moved to fifteenth and ending, but we want to be honoured with an annual incremental salary scale just like everyone else that’s working and collecting fifteenth and ending.”

Janelle Chanona

“Some people were reporting water shortages this morning, was that as a result of this?”

Benson Matthews

“The water shortage wasn’t as a result our action with our management, it was a whole different thing. Our people, our field crew would never intentionally stop water from the rest of Belize City residents cause all of us here have families…we’d never short the city of water.”

News 5 understands that the go-slow ended just after three this afternoon with management agreeing to the field crews demands.