Belize City Council and CWU Sign Long-Awaited Collective Bargaining Agreement

The Belize City Council and the Christian Workers Union (CWU) have officially signed a long-awaited Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The agreement, which concludes years of negotiations, includes significant adjustments to pay scales and benefits for city employees. The newly signed CBA includes a comprehensive review and adjustment of pay scales, ensuring that city employees receive competitive compensation aligned with their roles and responsibilities. Additionally, the agreement outlines improved benefits, including enhanced leave policies and clearer guidelines for promotions and job security.  Mayor of Belize City, Bernard Wagner, expressed that this CBA is in the best interest of the employees. 

Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City: “Well that has always been on our mind. When we came into office, that CBA was then expiring in 2018 and we were quickly brought to the table in 2019. But things occur outside of our control and so being able to get this done for our staff, our workers, the field workers or administrative workers is really huge for us and I want to ensure that I left a document along with the union where workers’ interests are at the forefront. We did a real extensive look at the pay scales in our entire organization and we found that in many instances there were some measures of not meeting the standards of their peers in the industry, probably like a field worker would not be getting the same pay if he were working in a private sector. And so we wanted to ensure that we fix that issue there. And we saw that for field workers, their hourly rate went from really like $6.46 to $7.04 per hour, while our administrative staff went from $11.46 per hour to $11.97 per hour. So clearly, that was really something that we feel proud of to hold our hats on. And like I said, a document of this nature is for the moment and it continues to evolve, it continues to be refined. And as you work towards refining it, you will see that more benefits come towards workers.”

CWU President Leonora Flowers, who played a pivotal role in the negotiations, praised the collaborative effort that led to the agreement.  One of the sticking points in earlier negotiations was the council’s proposal to incorporate a document that had not been formally enacted into law. However, after extensive discussions, both parties agreed to remove references to the disputed document and based the CBA on existing labor laws and mutually agreed terms.  Flowers says that this is something that was long overdue. 

Leonora Flowers, President, Christian Workers Union: “I know there were many times when we had lots of differences in interpretation, but we were able to go through those at the end. And that was one of the reasons why the negotiations seem to have stalled in many instances, because we couldn’t come to an agreement about some of the legal issues. And we felt that we had to be prudent in representing our members. So even though at the time we had COVID, we had change of….we had elections, we had all of that. Many of the times the delay was in agreeing to the actual text when it comes to interpretation of the conditions that were in there. I must say at the end we agreed on those to our satisfaction and so we’re now able to sign on and move on. The council has acquiesced some and our members have indicated to us that they’re willing to accept what was awarded and so on that ground we sign.”

The signing ceremony, held earlier today at the Belize City Council chambers, was attended by Mayor Bernard Wagner, CWU President Leonora Flowers, councilors, union representatives, and city employees.