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On Monday you may have heard the Prime Minister mention the name Nelson Young as a former BTL employee and express his hope that now that BTL is under new management – the tribunal to hear Young’s labour grievance will finally be convened. His role in all this is central; he was one of three workers terminated from Belize Telecommunications Limited in January of 2005. Young along with Andy Sutherland and Enrique Monima were union liaisons employed at the Stores Department in Ladyville. Their termination was seen as a blatant attempt at union busting and that was why all the agitation, unrest and anti-Ashcroft sentiment started. That’s right, the termination of the three employees in January of 2005 was the catalyst that spurred an insurrection against the Michael Ashcroft affiliated management and eventually a countrywide shutdown targeting the Musa administration that was seen as cosy and complicit with Ashcroft..

Since his termination, a labour tribunal has stalled – the Prime Minister characterized it as deliberately frustrated by BTL. But after a long time in the wilderness, Nelson Young got a glimmer of hope on Monday when he turned on his radio and heard the Prime Minister’s announcement about the BTL takeover. He says that what he heard gave him cold-seed and a reason to be optimistic.

Nelson Young,
“I had just came from the gym and was relaxing and I got a call from a cousin of mine saying if I was listening to the House and I said no. He said put on your radio and when I put on that radio and I heard my Prime Minister, I said mein, I got cold seed. I would have never ever figure that something like this would just happen.”

Keith Swift,
“Did you ever feel that you were a victim of Michael Ashcroft?”

Nelson Young,
“Oh clearly, clearly. I was at BTL for 22 years. I mean to say, there was no problem, we lived as a family and all of a sudden we started a movement which caught on.”

Keith Swift,
“Do you in anyway feel vindicated?”

Nelson Young,
“Oh yes of course of course. We have been fighting to put back BTL into the hands of Belizeans from the onset and this is a clear victory for us.

The status of the tribunal has been on a standstill. It has been a very very frustrating process. I couldn’t even begin to talk how frustrated.”

Keith Swift,
“The Prime Minister mentioned it in his speech. How did that make you feel?”

Nelson Young,
“Mein good. Sometimes you feel that you have been forgotten but then you see that maybe you haven’t been so it makes you feel good.”

Keith Swift,
“What is your hope now?”

Nelson Young,
“Well Keith I have my union rep that will be representing me and I guess whenever everything settles down, because I have to give the new board a chance, when everything has been settled down I guess he will do what he has to do and we’ll take it from there.”

Keith Swift,
“Let’s just say that the tribunal works correctly, would you want back your job at BTL and would you want to work at BTL again?”

Nelson Young,
“Uhm that is a question I don’t think I could answer right now.”

Nelson Young had been with BTL for 22 years. At the time of his termination he was an accounts clerk in the Stores Department.