6 days ago
4
The National Trade Union Congress of Belize, (NTUCB), has launched a nationwide campaign encouraging Belizeans to sign a petition calling on the Government of Belize to act on eleven demands the organization says are in the best interest of workers, families, and the country as a whole. According to the NTUCB, the petition addresses issues affecting democracy, accountability, workers’ rights, and national development. The organization is urging members of the public to review the demands, sign the petition, and encourage others to do the same. NTUCB President Ella Waight says the petition is an opportunity for Belizeans to collectively express their concerns and advocate for meaningful change.
Ella Waight, President, NTUCB: “We’d like Belizeans to know that the eleven demands can be found on all all social media platforms and through the NTUCB affiliated unions are the eleven demands that we had proposed to the government in August of this year. The petition, we’re asking petitions to sign the petition, it’s three easy steps where you click and you put in your first name, last name and your email address and then there’s another button that asks two questions “Do you want to provide financial support or share the petition.” We’re not asking for financial support from anyone but we are asking for them to share the petition. The more persons that share this petition we can then inform the government that we have petition signed from “X” amount of people and that way it address pressure to the importance of these demands. The petition has only been up for a day and we have over 210 signed petitions and these are legitimate petitions because it comes with people’s email address. We are going to each affiliate union with our presentation, with the entire membership as to the definitions as to the reasons for these eleven demands. It’s an educational session so that we can ensure that our members of the NTUCB are aware and they fully understand why the eleven demands are important and how it will affect them as workers of this country. We’re also doing public campaigns where we’re putting signs behind our vehicles in white shoe polish that’s basically saying “NTUCB 11 Demands are My 11 Demands.”
The trade union movement believes that widespread public participation will demonstrate to the Government that Belizeans want action on issues they say affect the country’s future. The NTUCB adds that every signature represents another voice calling for greater accountability and responsiveness from national leaders. Waight says the organization hopes the Government will carefully consider the concerns being raised and respond with meaningful engagement.
Ella Waight, President, NTUCB: “These are what we call the soft protest levels to get traction. The other step now if we do not get any result, and the result is having a meeting with the Prime Minister and his team, that is the end result so we can have serious discussions. If we do not get the result of having that meeting we then start other forms of agitation which is then hitting the streets via our small protest that we had begun and eventually if it takes it to that point that we still do not get the respect that we deserve we then make it in the street as a national demonstration. We would not want to get to that point because we are trying to do or to make positive changes in this country. It’s just that when the precedents came up these were the eleven demands .There were many more, there were like fifteen or sixteen demands but we had to chose a certain amount to ensure that we do not overwhelm the public and overwhelm our members with information and the way ahead.”
The petition is available online, and the NTUCB is encouraging Belizeans from across the country to read the eleven demands, add their signatures, and share the initiative with their families, friends, and communities./
English (US) ·