In a significant development for labor rights in Belize, Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL) has scheduled a crucial meeting with former employees to address long-outstanding severance payments that have remained unpaid for decades. The company formally communicated its intention to engage with the Belize Communications Workers for Justice (BCWJ) in a letter confirming today’s meeting to finalize compensation arrangements.
This breakthrough follows a landmark Caribbean Court of Justice ruling that explicitly affirmed the workers’ entitlement to severance benefits, irrespective of their pension status. Despite this legal victory, actual disbursement of funds had remained stagnant until now.
The protracted dispute has impacted more than 175 former BTL staff members, many of whom dedicated over twenty years of service to the telecommunications company. News 5 has documented extensive demonstrations outside BTL’s headquarters, where affected former employees have voiced their struggles with financial instability and declining health conditions directly attributed to the prolonged wait for compensation.
The BCWJ has consistently characterized the delays as stemming from ‘bogus excuses and a lack of goodwill’ on the company’s part. Tensions escalated notably when BTL publicly announced its intention to acquire SpeedNet for $80 million, a move that the workers’ union criticized as demonstrating misplaced priorities that favored corporate expansion over fulfilling obligations to longtime employees.
In a notable concession, BTL has committed to processing claims that would typically fall outside the standard six-year statute of limitations. The BCWJ emphasizes that while this commitment represents progress, former employees require a definitive timeline specifying when each individual will finally receive their compensation check.