B.E.L. workers meet with Prime Minister

The tribunal appointed to mediate in the dispute between the Belize Energy Workers Union and Belize Electricity Limited has made its decision. And while no official release has been issued by either side it appears that the three-man panel has ruled that the union does not have a valid claim. Last month the B.E.W.U. gave its mandatory twenty-one day notice of a possible strike if B.E.L. did not grant its demand to dismiss the workers, pay them their accumulated benefits and then rehire them. The union claimed that since B.E.L. was being privatized it was the equivalent of working for a new company. In the wake of the apparent ruling against them the B.E.W.U. representatives traveled to Belmopan this afternoon for a meeting with the Prime Minister. A short release from the P.M.’s office just prior to newstime indicated that union and management will meet again Tuesday evening with Minister of Labour Jose Coye, with a view to resolving the dispute. Neither union nor B.E.L. officials could be reached for comment but it appears that having lost its case on the merits, the workers are looking for some political comfort to ease their fears over privatization. In related news that privatization has still not been completed and negotiations with potential majority private investors have been drown out in tough and detailed bargaining.