Union executives banned from 2 sitting of the House

As a consequence of that protest at the last sitting, union executives have been banned from participating in two sittings of the House. That may seem like a small price to pay for having finally gotten the OSH bill on the table, and it probably is. But one very vocal union rep took the opportunity to make a further statement. Kathleen Flowers today held a one-woman protest outside the House to show that she’s not happy. That message was sent – whether it was heeded is open to speculation and cynicism. But it is one message of many, as the unions plan to make their presence felt in 2014.

Kathleen Flowers, Belize District President, B.N.T.U.

“We didn’t get our chance to get first warning, second warning, third warning; people usually get their warnings. It is not immediate eviction. We took our immediate eviction humbly and we left and so we returned today to exercise our constitutional right and we were banned and so I decided that I will do a one-woman protest and I sat out here while the rest of my affiliates went up after we had to beg for us to get inside.”

Reporter

Kathleen Flowers

“But as a school teacher you know how rules go. You have to observe them.”

Kathleen Flowers

“Yes, but tell me, in your home, your child throws a tantrum, you kick ahn out of your house the first time? No yo work with your child and bring your child to the level of discipline you want your child to be at. So we want the government to work with us. We were not being disorderly. We may have broken the rules of this House, but it was to get a point across for this nation. It is a national task that we are undertaking here and so I really felt it important on my part to do this one-woman thing this morning…me out here alone with my teachers got yo back shirt on my back and I waited it out. Message loud.”

Dylan Reneau

Dylan Reneau, President, N.T.U.C.B.

“Well as the national body, we are looking at it from the angle of the real national issue, the corruption. Certainly we are going to support the PSU in defending these workers as they go through the process with the public service commission. But at the same time, we are going to renew that call for the senate-select committee, the release of those critical reports that Channel Five has already started to make the information available to the general public and we’ve seen things in those reports that are eye-openers. We are going to push for the whistleblowers legislation, which is critical in order to protect public officers when they have to blow the whistle. So these things are the things that the N.T.U.C.B. will do as an organization; we will deal with it from national perspective. And I think we need to renew the call for the removal of former minister Penner as well. The government needs to make a political decision because as the prime minister rightfully said, something like this can bring down a government. And if they don’t take a very serious stand on it, they could really and truly be in a situation because I know for a fact that the N.T.U.C.B. is not pleased with what transpired with the recall mechanism. We are not pleased at all because minister Penner seems to be on this pedestal where he cannot be touched and we are not going to stand for that.”