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And the prime minister has written.  Just about 30 minutes ago, the Government sent a copy of the letter that the Prime Minister wrote to the President of the BNTU.

In it, it is clear that the Prime Minister is trying to keep his comments measured when he says,  quote,“You have today told the media and the public that I have not formally invited the BNTU back to the negotiating table to discuss the eight demands contained in your September 12, 2016 letter to me...

To say the least, I find this to be a fig leaf. I have publicly issued several calls for BNTU to return to negotiations with Government, the latest such call being just two days ago. I also note that after our meeting of September 22, 2016, you immediately wrote to reject the majority of the positions Government had put to you and made your decision to strike. You did not say to me then, or at any time thereafter, that you were willing to further engage. Indeed, it was quite clear that the opposite was true. As a matter of fact, my conviction is that you had decided to strike even before hearing Government's position. You came to that meeting with your minds already made up.â€￾

And addressing their 8 demands in this letter, â€œThe problem now, though, is the position of the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB), your umbrella organization. I have been made aware of the fact that the NTUCB has adopted the position that the good governance agenda is one that it had already taken up, and that it should now be synchronized and further progressed by the Congress (and by the BNTU as part of the Congress). I have therefore formally written to the NTUCB asking that we fix the earliest possible date for those negotiations. I have copied that letter to you and I will copy this one to the NTUCB.â€￾

He’s asking for them to join up with the rest of the Unions and discuss these good governance demands as a collectives under the NTUCB.

He ends his letter saying quote, â€œIn the meantime, I naturally ask once again for the BNTU to listen to what has now also become the call of the Catholic Bishops: Stop the strike and return to school.â€￾