Posted: Tuesday, May 13, 2025. 9:45 am CST.
By Zoila Palma: Today, the Public Service Union of Belize (PSU) issued a statement saying that its advocacy for public officers and teachers include a “restoration of earned benefits contractually owed to public servants and withheld due to past government policies. Specifically, we are calling for a salary adjustment equivalent to three (3) annual increments that were frozen unilaterally, depriving public officers of compensation they had rightfully earned under established employment agreements.”
“Public service salaries in Belize traditionally include annual increments, which are pre-agreed, incremental adjustments tied to tenure and performance. These increments are not discretionary “raises” but part of a structured compensation system designed to recognize performance, experience, and public service loyalty. However, during periods of economic constraint, successive governments imposed increment freezes, halting these adjustments for public officers. As a result, many workers lost three full increments they would have otherwise received under normal conditions,” the PSU said.
The PSU also noted that a Salary Increase is a new upward revision of base pay beyond existing agreements. Whilst a Salary Adjustment is a correction to honor prior commitments by restoring increments that were contractually anticipated but withheld.
“The PSU’s demand is squarely the latter. We are not asking for new money but for the government to fulfill obligations that were deferred. Public officers have effectively worked these years without receiving compensation they had already earned through their service,” the PSU added.
In addition, the PSU says that freezing increments retroactively breaches trust and undermines the integrity of employer-employee agreements.
The PSU reminded that nurses, teachers, domestic workers, and others kept Belize functioning during crises (the COVID-19 pandemic).
The PSU urges the Government to acknowledge the debt owed to public officers for the three withheld increments, commit to salary adjustment to restore these increments without further delay and engage in good-faith dialogue to ensure public servants are no longer penalized for circumstances beyond their control.
“It is a demand for the government to honor its obligations and rectify a longstanding inequity. Public servants have already earned these adjustments through their labor; they are simply asking for what is rightfully theirs,” the PSU explained.
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The post Public Service Union sets record straight; demands restoration of earned benefits appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
Posted: Tuesday, May 13, 2025. 9:45 am CST. By Zoila Palma: Today, the Public Service Union of Belize (PSU) issued a statement saying that its advocacy
The post Public Service Union sets record straight; demands restoration of earned benefits appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
