"Resign or be removed" - that's the mantra that Vice President of the National Trade Union Congress of Belize Audrey Matura Shepherd has been repeating against Labour Senator, Ray Davis. Well, the news tonight is that she got her way: the General Council of the NTUCB has voted to remove him.
Things came to a head after Davis appeared before a tribunal in early August to explain why he was absent for the Senate meeting on July first. As we've told you he sent the president and the general secretary of the NTUCB an email on June 17th informing him of his planned absence. But, it seems neither the President or the Gen Sec got the mails. Now, add that to the fact that on March 30, Davis famously abstained from voting on the Petrocaribe Loans Act when it was first passed into law. At the time, the union had given him no clear position on the bill.
So, at Saturday's meeting, all those opposed to and those in favour of his continued tenure as Senator gathered to decide whether the NTUCB was satisfied with Ray Davis' performance. We understand the meeting got very heated - and have confirmed that at least three people - including Dylan Reneau of the PSU and Sharon Fraser of the APSSM walked out in frustration. But, the meeting continued, and in the end those remaining decided that they were not pleased with Davis's performance and that he should be replaced.
Today, we met President of the NTUCB, Marvin Mora, at another event, and he refused to divulge the outcome of the meeting until after the rest of the NTUCB's membership had been informed.:
Daniel Ortiz
"Is the Senator still going to be senator in the near future?"
Marvin Mora - President, NTUCB
"I can tell you that a decision has been made. But it would be unfair for anybody to make any pronouncements until the union has done due diligence to its membership. So for right now I am going to hold on those comments and one I am aware that due diligence has been done, I will contact your office and contact the other media personnel, so that we can have an interview and I can tell you more or less what was the process utilized and what was in essence the result that we got out of that. But a decision has been reached by the congress."
Daniel Ortiz
"Sir, we've managed to get a hold of an email from Ray Davis who says clearly that he has intentions on leaving the country and that there was due notice to the executive of the NTUCB. How do you answer to the criticism that persons in the NTUCB mistook or misspoke or misinterpreted his absence?"
Marvin Mora - President, NTUCB
"On the contrary. We looked at the entire issue and we gave Senator Ray Davis, our brother, a lot of room for him to be able to explain his situation in regards to that absence and also he had the opportunity to go in front of the entire congress. We gave him and entire meeting to do that and after hearing from him, after all the issues had been exhausted, the congress had to come back to make a decision. That happened this Saturday. I can tell you though that it was not an easy decision, given the fact that this is one of the very most elemental functions that we have in the country, in terms government. We have somebody in there as a senator. So, the reality is that for the congress it was not easy. It is not an easy decision. But the congress had to make a decision based on the facts on the ground and based on the presentation and the rendering of the facts that brother Ray Davis also made."
Daniel Ortiz
"Did the second vice president Mrs. Audrey Matura-Shepherd misspeak when she condemned Mr. Ray Davis early in the stages when we hadn't seen some notification via that email had been sent?"
Marvin Mora - President, NTUCB
"I would not comment on Audrey Matura's personal positions in public in regards to anything that has to do with the congress. What I can tell you is that as a trade union leader and as the president of the NTUCB, I do encourage everybody to exercise their freedom of speech. They have the right to voiced their concerns and opinions."
Today Davis told us he has not been informed of the outcome of the meeting. But, the outcome is likely to leave the NTUCB with a rift because Davis is from the Public Service Union - and has senior credentials in that union. And - we are told - what galled the PSU representatives at that meeting is that he was basically being dismissed without just cause having been established - which is a no-no for trade unionism in general. His supporters say that his performance or lack of it, cannot be so easily established since no standards, measures or protocols for his performance were set in the first place.
There is no confirmation of who will replace Davis in the senate, but reports suggest that first vice president Adelaide Guerra may get the nod. She sat in for Davis at short notice on July first.
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