A growing wave of organized labor opposition to state-owned Belize Telemedia Limited’s planned takeover of Speednet Communications Limited, which operates under the brand name SMART, is set to translate into public demonstrations, escalating a months-long debate over the future of Belize’s telecommunications sector. The National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB), the country’s umbrella union body, has organized two coordinated actions to push back against the acquisition: a nationwide show of solidarity scheduled for Friday, August 14, where supporters are asked to wear black, followed by a large-scale public rally and demonstration on Tuesday, August 18.
The shift to public protest marks a clear escalation of union pushback, moving the conversation from private negotiations and public calls for greater government transparency to open collective action. As of press time, the NTUCB had not released an official public statement confirming the demonstration, but internal correspondence from one of the country’s largest unions confirms its members will participate in the peaceful gathering. The Belize National Teachers’ Union (BNTU), an NTUCB affiliate, shared an August 12 memorandum addressed to administrators at all government and grant-aided educational institutions across Belize, confirming that its teachers will join the protest, alongside other affiliated unions. The memo, signed by BNTU National President Nadia Martin Caliz, notes that participating teachers will be unable to attend pre-scheduled professional development sessions on the day of the demonstration, and closes with the firm rallying cry: “We Shall NOT be Moved.”
Multiple sources close to the NTUCB confirm that the body held a closed-door planning meeting on August 11, where a resolution opposing the acquisition was introduced and passed unanimously by attending delegates. No official public statement outlining the meeting’s outcomes had been issued to media as of press time.
The growing labor opposition comes after a key union reversed its earlier position on the deal. The Belize Communications Workers Union (BCWU), which represents all workers at BTL and previously backed the acquisition earlier this year, announced in an August 10 statement that 84 percent of its voting membership now opposes the transaction in its current form. The reversal followed an emergency membership meeting held on August 6, where members revisited the union’s stance after core concerns remained unaddressed by BTL and government officials.
Earlier this year, after a January 22 virtual town hall with BTL leadership, a majority of BCWU members signaled support for the acquisition, but that approval was explicitly conditional on the union’s outstanding concerns being resolved. Those unresolved demands include guarantees for job security for existing BTL employees, full transparency around the financial costs and long-term economic implications of the merger, clarification of procurement and regulatory approval processes, open governance and public disclosure of deal terms, confirmation of whether SMART employees would be eligible for BCWU membership, and a commitment to a phased acquisition process that includes ongoing consultation with the NTUCB. To date, none of these demands have been met to the satisfaction of union leadership.
In a public post to its official social media channels, the NTUCB called on all workers, union members, and concerned Belizean citizens to join the August 14 black-out solidarity action. “This is about more than two companies,” the post read. “It is about workers, consumers, competition, investment, and the future of telecommunications in Belize. Let us show that Belizeans are paying attention and that our voices matter when decisions are being made that affect our economy, our workers, and our country.”