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And while C.E.O. Santos seeks to assure her social workers that she is not out on a witch hunt, she says the number of social workers not reporting for duty currently is very minimal. According to the Chief Executive Officer, choosing between strike action and the obligation to their clients is an ethical dilemma. […]
Written on May 5, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on To Serve or To Strike? A Social Worker’s Dilemma
The COVID-19 vaccination campaign was launched on March first and phases one to three are currently open, allowing for teachers, parliamentarians, law enforcement officers, healthcare workers and others to be inoculated. The highest vaccination coverage for first dose is healthcare workers with eighty-five point three percent; fifty-one percent of teachers have been vaccinated and fifty […]
Written on May 5, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on 10.7% Persons Vaccinated So Far
But there is an appeal for persons to visit vaccinations centers across the country to get their jab. Belize received donations from the governments of Barbados and India as well as thirty-three thousand six hundred doses via the COVAX facility. And while the vaccination rate is higher than many other countries, there is still the […]
Written on May 5, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on An Appeal for Vulnerable Persons to Get Vaccinated
If you went to any government offices today and wondered where the staff was, well they were very likely on the streets of Belize City. News Five followed the Public Service Union members from their opening church service to their march on Belize City. Paul Lopez, Reporting Today marks the first day of strike […]
Written on May 4, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on P.S.U. Kicks of Strike with Service and March through Belize City
While members were out in the streets protesting, their leaders were behind closed doors preparing for a mid-afternoon meeting with government representatives. That meeting began at one-thirty p.m. inside the House of Culture Compound in Belize City. News Five’s Paul Lopez was there and files the following report. Paul Lopez, Reporting This afternoon, the […]
Written on May 4, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Unions Gather Outside House of Culture
While songs of solidarity are being sung among union executives, there is a divide on one issue. Among the list of eleven demands that the joint unions are putting forward is that all minister’s allowances be eliminated. Well, President of the A.P.S.S.M. says that her membership has been cautious about going after allowances because public […]
Written on May 4, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on A.P.S.S.M. Cautious About Calling for End to Ministerial Allowances
Overtime for frontline healthcare workers…There are reports that overtime for nurses, accrued over the pandemic, has still not been paid. During today’s protest, News Five asked Darrell Spencer, the President of the Nurses Association of Belize, whether in fact these payments have been settled. Darrell Spencer, President, Nurses Association of Belize “From the time […]
Written on May 4, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Are Overtime Payments Still Outstanding for Health Workers?
As we said, the nurses were out today in full force, joining the members of the P.S.U. and the B.N.T.U. President Spencer called on nurses from within the public and private sectors to come out in support because all will be affected by the decisions taken by the government. Spencer reiterates that the go-slow continues […]
Written on May 4, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Go-Slow Still in Effect for Nurses Association of Belize
On Monday, we reported on a release dated April twenty-seventh from the Belize Energy Workers Union. It spoke to a position taken by the union on the plight of the Joint Union Negotiating Team whose members are on the brink of receiving a ten percent salary cut and increment freeze for three years. But as […]
Written on May 4, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on B.E.W.U. Release Leaked, but Wasn’t Finalised
But according to Mora, there are aspects of the release that they do support the call for accountability and transparency by the government. On the Phone: Marvin Mora, Assistant Secretary General, B.E.W.U. “We are concerned about a couple things, especially how this ten percent cut is going to affect our brothers and sisters of […]
Written on May 4, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on B.E.W.U. Wants Good Governance Measures Implemented
It is official – Buckingham Palace has approved the appointment of Froyla Tzalam as the next Governor General of Belize. Over the weekend, News Five spoke with Tzalam who was on a tour with officials from the Ministry of Human Development, Families and Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs in the south. The former executive director of the […]
Written on May 3, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Buckingham Palace Approves Froyla Tzalam for GG
Today marks the second week of industrial action by the Belize National Teachers Union and the final day before the Public Service Union begins a strike of its own. As we have been reporting, members of the joint unions are taking industrial action against government’s ten percent salary cut for public officers and three-year increment […]
Written on May 3, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Teachers & P.S.U. Picket P.M. Office
As the twenty-one-day industrial action notice from the P.S.U. elapsed today, on Tuesday public officers will not be reporting to work. News Five spoke with P.S.U. President Gerald Henry about the decision to move forward with the strike. Paul Lopez “Your members keep the government system up and running; them being out of office […]
Written on May 3, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on P.S.U. Set to Strike!
Late last week, the Belize Energy Workers Union issued a release to say that their members stand in solidarity with the joint unions but urged all parties, including the government to go back to the table. The release says that the B.E.W.U. has been following the developments closely, but believe that mediation is an option […]
Written on May 3, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Will Other Unions Support the Joint Unions in their Strike Actions?
The joint unions have been called for a meeting with the government on Tuesday afternoon. That meeting, the unions are hoping, will be the start of negotiations to settle the impasse that has come out of the consultations over the past few weeks. P.S.U. President Gerald Henry says that the government negotiating team requested the […]
Written on May 3, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on P.S.U. to Meet with G.O.B. – is This the Start of Negotiations?
While News Five’s attempts to get comment from several ministers of government about the Tuesday meeting with the unions went unanswered, today, during an interview with the press today, Minister Dolores Balderamos-Garcia said as tough as it is to take the pay cut, the decision is good for the country, given the economic reality. […]
Written on May 3, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Minister Dolores on Strike Action
Less than two weeks ago, two Punta Gorda residents were executed – one shot dead while on his veranda and the other inside his vehicle at the entrance of the town. The unrelated murders happened within twenty-four hours of each other. To respond, the Belize Police Department has reworked its strategy in the South and […]
Written on May 3, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Regaining a Sense of Security in P.G.
At midday today, public officers across the country walked out of their respective government buildings and took to the streets in the various municipalities in anticipation of strike action that is to take effect next Tuesday. News Five’s Duane Moody was out on Freetown Road where teachers joined public officers and paraded through the streets […]
Written on April 30, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Public Officers Take to the Streets
The Joint Unions Negotiating Team met in a marathon session on Thursday evening to devise a strategy going forward, as public officers are set to commence a strike on May fourth. According to P.S.U. President Gerald Henry, the imminent industrial action will see the operations of some government departments grinding to a halt in the […]
Written on April 30, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Strike Action is Imminent!
While the Public Service Union will be leading the charge this time, Henry says that the P.S.U. enjoys the full support of the Belize National Teachers Union and the Association of Public Service Senior Managers. On the Phone: Gerald Henry, President, Public Service Union “Certainly, I can safely say that they are in full […]
Written on April 30, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on P.S.U. is Backed by B.N.T.U. and A.P.S.S.M.
The Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry held its hundred and first annual general meeting on Thursday night to a virtual audience. Despite the physical presence of its membership, the meeting was spirited and a number of issues were raised. According to Chief Executive Officer Kim Aikman, a full recap of 2020 was provided by […]
Written on April 30, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on 101st A.G.M. for Chamber of Commerce
Since 2020, Belize’s economy has been in a precarious situation which has been made worse by the pandemic. According to Aikman, the uncertainty of what is to come is worrying for the Chamber membership so they were eager to hear from the Prime Minister. Kim Aikman, C.E.O., B.C.C.I. “We’ve taken some shocks from the […]
Written on April 30, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Concerns over Belize’s Economic State
During Monday’s Senate Budget Debate, Senator Eamon Courtenay raised the issue of the U.D.P. administration’s waiving taxes on land purchased by the Nature Conservancy for a period of fifty years. According to Courtenay, this would have yielded over three hundred million dollars in revenue to the government of Belize. He referred to the arrangement as […]
Written on April 30, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Opposition Responds to Senator Courtenay on T.N.C.
During today’s U.D.P. press conference, Leader of the Opposition Patrick Faber also responded to reports that under his leadership, funds were used from the National Institute of Culture and History to pay off a Social Security debt for a staunch U.D.P. supporter. Faber confirmed that one hundred thousand dollars from NICH’s account was used to […]
Written on April 30, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Faber Makes No Apology for Payment of S.S.B. Loan for U.D.P. Supporter
Was the former Minister of Education Patrick Faber double dipping from public funds while operating in the capacity as Deputy Prime Minster? Last week in the House of Representatives, the Minister of Education Francis Fonseca, accused the former administration of entering a two year rent contract valued at three thousand dollars monthly to house the […]
Written on April 30, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Was Faber Double Dipping on Rent and Housing as D.P.M.?
