Two days ago, we told you about the lawsuit which Eamon Courtenay filed on behalf of the Belize National Teachers Union. They're suing the Ministry of Education to stop the Government from docking the pay of the strike teachers.
Well, that case went before the Chief Justice, Kenneth Benjamin, today, and we'll tell you all about how it went, but first to the big news. BNTU's investigations say that almost 1,500 teachers went on strike, and are at risk of having their November paycheck docked.
The problem is that the Ministry has already put in the paysheets with the pay-cuts, and as of today, the calculations have already been made, and the deductions are finalized. So, that means when those strike teachers go to the bank next Friday, they may very well find their pay - their last salary before Christmas - docked for the number of days they were on strike.
But, the Court could force the Education Ministry officials to reverse it before then. That's if the court rules in the BNTU's favor on Monday.
It's delayed until Monday because instead of having an injunction hearing, the Chief Justice went ahead and allowed Eamon Courtenay, and acting Solicitor General Nigel Hawke to argue the full case on whether or not he should order the pay cut to be reversed.
That happened in a closed door session, where the press was not allowed to listen. But when the hearing was over, BNTU President Luke Palacio granted us an interview. He said that the union is not accepting an excuse that the deductions are already final and irreversible:
Luke Palacio, President - BNTU
"We cannot say with any great degree, we are satisfied with our submissions. We have seen where the ministry personnel through their attorney in particular, are trying to make it appear that it is very difficult for them to rectify what they have done. We have submitted to the ministry through the government that the BNTU would have asking them to rescind their decision on withholding the salary of our teachers. We have given them a deadline by which time they should have responded and they have refused to do so and now they are coming to court. Their argument basically is that it will be difficult for them, it will take a lot of time for them to redo the pay sheets. We do not subscribe to that. We are certain that we had over 1,500 teachers on strike who will be affected by this action by the government. We believe very strongly that the government is just trying to be a bully. The Minister of Education in particular continues even though he tries to say that he is not about to punish the teachers. That is exactly what they are doing and making every attempt at trying to bring down the Belize National Teachers Union. But they shall not succeed. We shall not be moved. We are saying whether the salary for government teachers come through the smart stream or not, the smart stream is manned by human beings. Therefore, whatever changes they had made to the salaries of our teachers at government secondary and primary schools that are paid through the smart stream, somebody had to undo that. Because the pay sheets remain constantly for the most part month to month."
The Chief Justice has reserved his ruling for Monday afternoon, and when the decision is in, we'll tell you what it is.
Email
Print