Union objects to B.T.L. arbitration process

In news from the labour front, today the Belize Communication Workers Union issued a press release complaining that despite plans for the scheduled arbitration to proceed on Monday morning, they have yet to receive the necessary terms of reference. According to the release, the union has appointed a former Labour Commissioner, Winston Carr, as their panel member. But the B.C.W.U. goes on to point out that neither the union nor Carr has been provided with the legally required information so as to properly prepare for the proceedings. Our attempts to contact Labour Commissioner Adelfino Vasquez regarding this apparent oversight were unsuccessful. According to B.C.W.U. General Secretary Christine Perriott, attorney Antoinette Moore will be making legal submissions on their behalf and will be advised by an attorney from the Caribbean Congress of Labour, a regional body with which B.C.W.U. is affiliated. We understand tonight that the three Government appointed members of the arbitration panel have yet to be named publicly, while Belize Telecommunications Limited has submitted the names of U.S. attorneys John Townsend and Mark Baker, and has asked the Labour Ministry to select one as the B.T.L. appointee. The tribunal is currently scheduled to be convened on Monday, March twenty-sixth at nine in the morning at the George Price Centre in Belmopan.

In related news, according to Minister of Labour Francis Fonseca, while the investigation into the Christine Perriott termination has been completed, the report has not. This afternoon, Fonseca asserted that the findings should be handed to him later this week.