Walking in double lines, the teachers of Belize took their demands and chants to the Civic Center in Belmopan on Monday September 19, 2016 where the over 6,000 teachers crowded the area with their posters in hand.
HERE ARE A FEW KEYNOTE SPEAKERS AND WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY ON THAT DAY!
The action started inside with several bold speeches.
Luke Palacio - BNTU, President
"Enough is enough, and it comes to a stop today."
"Enough is enough, and it comes to a stop today."
Kathleen Flowers - Bze. City Branch
"It is not only about the 3. It is for.... and so today because we understand what our country means, it means the place that we will live in the future, it means the place that we have to live in now and if now things are not right then now we have to fix it and BNTU is proud, strong and united."
"It is not only about the 3. It is for.... and so today because we understand what our country means, it means the place that we will live in the future, it means the place that we have to live in now and if now things are not right then now we have to fix it and BNTU is proud, strong and united."
Pastor Luis Wade - Plus TV
"All of the things we are fighting for whether COLA or teachers or the churches, they the cane farmers, Maya associations. You know, they have one Dean-nominator in common. One Dean-nominator in common, who is saying no to the public accounts committee, one Dean-nominator. Who is saying no to the integrity commission, who is saying no to the 13th senator? Who is saying no and refusing to sign the anticorruption convention? Who is stopping the senate select committee from rolling the way it is supposed to? We have one Dean-nominator in common. He is saying it's political. When friend-friend drive the Prado into the sea it wasn't politics was it? When son-son moved to the top of Telemedia and BTL getting hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, it wasn't politics then was it? When Sister-sister for a whole year was a CEO of nothing but collect hundreds of thousands of dollars to do nothing, while teachers work every day and can't get their proper pay its not politics then is it?"
"All of the things we are fighting for whether COLA or teachers or the churches, they the cane farmers, Maya associations. You know, they have one Dean-nominator in common. One Dean-nominator in common, who is saying no to the public accounts committee, one Dean-nominator. Who is saying no to the integrity commission, who is saying no to the 13th senator? Who is saying no and refusing to sign the anticorruption convention? Who is stopping the senate select committee from rolling the way it is supposed to? We have one Dean-nominator in common. He is saying it's political. When friend-friend drive the Prado into the sea it wasn't politics was it? When son-son moved to the top of Telemedia and BTL getting hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, it wasn't politics then was it? When Sister-sister for a whole year was a CEO of nothing but collect hundreds of thousands of dollars to do nothing, while teachers work every day and can't get their proper pay its not politics then is it?"
BNTU Rep - Toledo Rural
"We as the Belize National Teachers Union (BNTU) will fight a fight to win. You know what hurts me a lot? In fact, while coming on the bus with our teachers were kinda concerned. They asked me, if I think our pay will get deducted. I asked them, would you prefer sacrifice a
day for your country or do you prefer sacrifice your entire life for your country to still be safe?"
"We as the Belize National Teachers Union (BNTU) will fight a fight to win. You know what hurts me a lot? In fact, while coming on the bus with our teachers were kinda concerned. They asked me, if I think our pay will get deducted. I asked them, would you prefer sacrifice a
day for your country or do you prefer sacrifice your entire life for your country to still be safe?"
Those speeches energized the crowd and it turned into a big celebration of solidarity.
But after all those speeches, it was time to hit the streets again but this time straight to the steps of the assembly building, where their songs and chants echoed.
Everything was calm with teachers singing their Union song, and the 50 plus officers standing in formation were making sure of that too.
That's of course until this well-known PUP supporter had to be shoved by SPU officers for being loud and unruly.
Things got even more complicated when others in the crowd charged at the officers. He was finally subdued and taken to the police station where he was released. But behind that political sideshow, the teachers got their message across, in numbers and in their resolute hardline message.
Hon. John Briceno, Leader of the Opposition
"They have every right to demand the raise that was rightfully promise to them. I don't think they were even asking for it, but the Prime Minister in his quest to get a third term, went overboard and made all kinds of promises and he made a promise to the teachers and now he is using an excuse about Hurricane Earl, that it has caused I am told millions of dollars of damages. It is so ironic in this world. They say when you spit up in the air, it falls on your face. That's exactly what is happening to the Prime Minister. Because remember the PUP had 5 storms and hurricanes and whenever we gave the extent of the damage, he was the first one saying that it was being inflated. Now in this case, it was just a category 1 storm or hurricane and he is saying we lost hundreds of millions of dollars. Yet people are not seeing any kind of benefit that he is getting from supposedly the efforts that or his government has been doing."
"They have every right to demand the raise that was rightfully promise to them. I don't think they were even asking for it, but the Prime Minister in his quest to get a third term, went overboard and made all kinds of promises and he made a promise to the teachers and now he is using an excuse about Hurricane Earl, that it has caused I am told millions of dollars of damages. It is so ironic in this world. They say when you spit up in the air, it falls on your face. That's exactly what is happening to the Prime Minister. Because remember the PUP had 5 storms and hurricanes and whenever we gave the extent of the damage, he was the first one saying that it was being inflated. Now in this case, it was just a category 1 storm or hurricane and he is saying we lost hundreds of millions of dollars. Yet people are not seeing any kind of benefit that he is getting from supposedly the efforts that or his government has been doing."
"Now the teachers are saying we are prepared to sacrifice with you Mr. Prime Minister, but you have to show what you are going to do, what is your sacrifice. He has appointed new ministers with drivers and vehicles and office and support staff. So why should the teachers be asked for them to sacrifice I think around 13 million dollars if the government is showing no intentions of them tightening their belts and making also their sacrifice."
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