Nearly three months after the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB) tabled 11 policy and representation demands before the government of Prime Minister John Briceño, long-running negotiations have hit a major impasse, with two core proposals emerging as the central points of conflict.
Briceño’s Cabinet issued its official response to the union’s demands last week, blending partial concessions, non-binding future commitments, and outright rejections of key asks. During the NTUCB’s regular weekly broadcast on Open Learning TV Tuesday evening, union president Ella Waight publicly pushed back against the government’s position, calling out its rejection of two high-priority demands: the placement of a permanent NTUCB liaison officer within the Office of the Prime Minister, and the adoption of a tripartite governance structure for Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL), the country’s leading telecommunications provider.
Waight first pushed back against the Cabinet’s core argument for rejecting the liaison officer role, which claimed existing representation through the Joint Union Negotiating Team (JUNT) already provides an adequate channel for union outreach to the prime minister’s office. Rejecting this framing as misleading, Waight emphasized that while JUNT member unions are affiliated with the NTUCB, the two bodies are not interchangeable, making the government’s claim of existing access disingenuous.
On the question of BTL governance, the NTUCB is demanding that the utility’s board of directors follow a tripartite model, with equal or proportional representation for three groups: government, private sector employers, and organized labor. Waight pointed to Belize’s own Social Security Board as a successful example of this structure in action, noting that tripartite representation inherently boosts transparency and accountability. Each stakeholder representative is required to report back to their constituency, ensuring no single group can control decision-making behind closed doors.
Waight added that this structure would have already provided a formal, direct channel for organized labor to raise questions and concerns about high-profile ongoing proposals, such as the recent acquisition plan involving BTL and local communications provider SMART.
Addressing Prime Minister Briceño’s direct assertion that the tripartite BTL board structure “cannot be done,” Waight delivered a blunt rebuke: “It can be done.”
As of September 23, 2026, the NTUCB is scheduled to submit its formal, written response to Cabinet’s position, and will return both disputed issues to the negotiating table for further discussion, setting the stage for continued talks between the nation’s largest union federation and the sitting government.