Former BEL Workers Protest Outside House of Representatives

And during this morning’s House of Representatives meeting in Belmopan, a handful of former Belize Electricity Limited workers, under the Belize Energy Workers for Justice, staged a protest outside, demanding severance payments they say are long overdue. Their push for compensation is inspired in part by recent successes of the Belize Communications Workers for Justice, where demonstrations and legal efforts led to severance payments being issued by BTL. The group argues that their contributions to the energy sector have gone unnoticed. Former BEL employee Dorla Staine says they are prepared to take their fight as far as necessary, adding that many of those affected are senior citizens and that the lack of compensation places them at risk. 

 Before heading inside the National Assembly Building, Minister of Labor, Kareem Musa met with the workers and expressed support for their concerns. Musa says discussions are underway at the Cabinet level as efforts continue to expedite the matter.