First Reading to Introduce 10% Salary Cut

John Briceño

While teachers were outside demonstrating on Independence Hill, Prime Minister Briceño introduced a motion that, when passed, will see the reduction of their monthly salaries by ten percent.  It will also have a similar effect on the salaries of public officers, including those that come under the Security Services Commission, as well as the Judicial and Legal Services Commission.  Their representative organizations, collectively known as the joint unions, had been fighting tooth and nail to prevent this motion being read.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“To save Belize and to rebalance the fiscal deficit, we must reduce the public sector wage bill, among several other options that we must take.  Unfortunately, we must implement the Barrow wage cut and reduce the salary of those in the public service and all those that are paid by the Government of Belize, either directly or indirectly.  As a government, we tried our utmost best to engage the unions who represent the public service to try to work out an amicable agreement to reduce the wage bill and to, at the same time, provide ameliorative measures for the public service.  We provided them with a written undertaking of several steps of measures of good governance which we will still intend to implement despite the union’s objection of our offer and despite their continuing industrial action.  Those who will be affected by the Barrow wage cut will include public officers who fall under the supervision of the Public Services Commission, the Security Services Commission and the Judicial and Legal Services Commission and teachers of both the government schools and the grant-aided denominational schools.  For those public officers who fall under the Public Service Commission, the minister responsible for the public service will be advising Her Excellency, the Governor General – dis sound good noh true, let me repeat, Her Excellency, the Governor General to sign regulations enacted by Statutory Instrument… of the Belize Constitution that will reduce their emoluments as to ten percent and as to twenty-five percent of entertainment allowance.  These regulations are to be called the Belize Constitution Public Service Emoluments and Allowances Reduction Regulations 2021, thanks to Dean Barrow and the U.D.P. government.”