University Staff Demand Long-Overdue Pay Hike, Minister Responds

With recent agreements secured for the Public Service Union and the Belize National Teachers’ Union, attention is now turning to the University of Belize Faculty and Staff Union (UBFSU), which is demanding a long-overdue 9% salary increase for its members. The union argues that university faculty and staff have not received any substantial pay raise in over a decade, despite growing responsibilities and the rising cost of living. Minister of Public Service Henry Charles Usher explained that this is something that the government must look at. 

Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service and Governance and NEMO: “It’s an area that we have to look at. Government does provide a subvention to the University of Belize in addition to providing assistance for  students attending the University of Belize. We have to look at what that assistance is, the total of that assistance because I mean that is monies that they can use to look at their staff and so on. So I think it’s important to put all the cards on the table and to see how best to accede to what the request is being done right now.”

UBFSU says it submitted its proposal to the university’s administration as far back as November 2024, requesting not only the 9% increase but also the reinstatement of lost increments and compensation for COVID-19-related remote work expenses. Although initial indications suggested the raise would be implemented by April 2025, it was later postponed to August due to financial constraints. Now, the union says the university has shifted the responsibility to the Government of Belize, claiming that an increased subvention is necessary to fulfill the wage adjustment.