Belize unions to boycott meetings with IMF

THE NATIONAL Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB) says it will boycott all further consultations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), saying it had taken the decision to protest being treated as a ”checkbox” by the Washington-based financial institution.

In a February 19 letter to the IMF’s economist, Jaime Guajardo, the umbrella organisation said as “a concerned global citizen who represents labourers, we are deeply troubled by the negative recommendations towards hardworking public-sector workers, teachers, police, doctors, nurses, firemen, etc”.

It said that the negative impact that t he I MF’s interventions “have had on the working class, economies, and people of developing countries within the Caribbean and Latin American region is of serious concern”.

The letter notes that the NTUCB “aligns itself with the criticisms that the IMF’s structural adjustment programmes that impose harsh austerity measures on debtor nations, l ead to widespread poverty, unemployment, and social unrest”.

The NTUCB was due to meet with the IMF delegation here to discuss the update on economic developments and gradual approach to government debt reduction, the outlook for wage bill and pensions, and options for reducing the government deficit.

In its letter, which was copied to t he International Labour

Organization; the Central Bank of Belize, and the Caribbean Congress of Labour, the umbrella union body is calling on the IMF to reconsider its approach to economic assistance and to prioritise the needs and rights of the people in debtor nations.

The NTUCB’s grievance lies in the IMF’s prescribed austerity measures, which include stringent public spending cuts, wage freezes, and tax hikes. These measures, according to the union, have spurred social unrest, exacerbated poverty, and widened the inequality gap in many countries grappling with debt.