And while the Teachers Union is hoping to increase the pressure on the government by entering its second day of strike action, the dynamic in the dispute now seems to be changing and that's because of a letter that the Teachers Union sent to the Chief Education Office on Friday.
The letter starts off as a formal notice of strike action - and explains that the industrial action is, quote, "to express our dissatisfaction with the long and the slow and inadequate pace of our current round of collective bargaining negotiations," end quote.
The letter ends by demanding two things: payment of the three percent salary adjustment, and urgent negotiation of what is known as Proposal #22 - which relates to service benefits of non-teaching staff.
So then is it all about the "three percent" after all? We say that because for weeks, we've been hearing only about the 8 governance proposals. President Palacio says it's always been about the 3:...
Luke Palacio, President - BNTU
"The government has refused vehemently to agree to our position at BNTU, that the request the Prime Minister made for us to defer our salary adjustment. We said to him you have to give us something for it. He is steadfast in his no. We are steadfast in our position. We have not given up and we will not give up on our 3% salary adjustment."
Jules Vasquez, 7News
"Sir, I just want to make it clear. There are 8 demands and the slogan is "it's not about the 3, it's about the country," but I'm saying the 3 is back on the table now, so there are 8 demands?"
Luke Palacio, President - BNTU
"The 3 was never on the table. The 3 is a negotiation that started in 2008 between 3 unions and the government of Belize. The 8 points demands are BNTU's demands - have nothing to do with that particular issue, but because it came right in the heels of the request and on the heels of the rejection of BNTU - of the Prime Minister's request for deferral, then it has to be there. We have not yet gotten it. We have made it absolutely clear to Prime Minister Dean Barrow, we have our conditions to accept your request for deferral. The other 2 unions for whatever reasons decided that they'll accept the deferral - that is neither here nor there. We were never told that you were coming to negotiate or to answer this request. You must all agree either one way or the other. We are saying we will not just give up our 3% at the request of the Prime Minister for a deferral without him giving us back something for it. And the 8 points are totally separate."
The Ministry of Education sent out a press release today calling the BNTU letter, quote, "a clear attempt to muddy the waters and to shift the goal posts."
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