They say the recent pay bump for CEO's and the cabinet secretary didn't sit right with them, and now they must decide if they will take industrial action and how. Jomarie Lanza interviewed the Belize district branch president - but she also looks at union meetings in other parts of the country:

They sang the anthem in their classrooms...

And they sang their union song at the civic centre in Punta Gorda...

and they came out in numbers at San Ignacio's Falcon field.

The reason for the meeting? Simple. Government already paid it's CEO's and Cabinet Secretary, now it's their turn:

Coral Lord, President, Belize District Branch, BNTU
"In light of the fact that our members have been agitating for their frozen increments, they have been asking for their salary upgrades that they have already worked for and have earned, they have been asking for some allowances that have yet to be given to them in light of all of this and government is giving raises to other employees we wanted to find out from them what is their position in respect to this and what they want us as the union that represents them to do and ensure that they are able to get what is legally and justifiably there's."

Here in Belize City their Belize District members, approximately 500 of them gathered at the Swift Hall to cast their vote this morning.

Coral Lord, President, Belize District Branch, BNTU
"The attendance was great here in the city, remember we have three locations in our district where voting is taking place here today, we have voting taking place at Caye Caulker and we have voting taking place in San Pedro. And so we have representatives from our executive out there who met with our teachers and who conducted the poll with those teachers out there but in Belize City itself I know we had a vast turnout today and I would want to put the numbers more around 500+ and so I know that we will get an overwhelming support from our members when it comes from whatever action that is needed to be taken."

The vote will determine what direction the union will take in the coming weeks. Will it be a strike? A sickout? Or will they stage a go slow? Or will they have a rally and demonstration?

Coral Lord, President, Belize District Branch, BNTU
"There are several options and I don't want to specifically say what all the options were because there were several, I would more want to focus on what was discussed and what was decided on after we look at the ballot."

Their demands remain the same, and Lord says that they believe they have waited long enough for something that they not only deserve and are also entitled to. An 8.5% salary adjustment, an increase of the mimic wage to $6, an urgent response to the CBA framework that was submitted in November of 2024, and other benefits and allowances as well. But their plan of action relies on what the ballots from the other branches will produce as well.

Coral Lord, President, Belize District Branch, BNTU
"When the ballot is tallied and it's shared with the nation because remember it has to be a collective response to see if we get the percentage as described in our constitution then the council of management will meet to decide when we will put that into action. So as a branch we don't act alone, we work together and we move together as a collective body."

"You know all of us are feeling the pinch, the rise in costs of items our money doesn't have the same strength or value it had when we go to the store, we see that daily the price of items are going up and so that 8.5 is simply speaking to that because we want everybody across the nation not only our members because we are also asking for a $6 increase a dollar increase which is taking the minimum wage to $6 for all workers in this country so it's not only about teachers it's about all workers."

Up to newstime, we didn't yet know the outcome of the national balloting.