Public servants’ salaries could be cut by 15 percent, increments frozen for three years

Published by BBN Staff at March 5, 2021

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Posted: Friday, March 5, 2021. 2:08 pm CST.

By BBN Staff: The collective unions representing public officers have until March 10 to make a decision on measures proposed by the Government of Belize to achieve fiscal balance within the next three years, including a 15 percent pay cut to public officers and freezing their increments for three years.

In a letter dated today March 5, 2021, Financial Secretary Joseph Waight said that he looks forward to meeting with the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB), Public Service Union (PSU), Association of Public Service Senior Managers (APSSM), and Belize National Teachers Union (BNTU) to discuss the measures aimed at putting Belize in a better position financially.

Waight pledged that leading up to the meeting it would provide the presidents of the unions with information regarding the number of government employees sorted by their income in various bands.

“I also undertake in due course to provide a complete staffing list containing the name post and ministry for each public officer, open vote worker, and contract officer,” Waight said.

The pay cut and increment freeze form a part of a greater list of cost-saving measures and we’ll have more on those in a follow-up story.

The unions have begun reaching out to their memberships and several concerns have already been raised about the possibility of salary cuts, including but not limited to the fact that the upper echelons of the public service are still receiving benefits such as housing assistance, even if at a reduced figure.

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