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CMC – The Belize government has denied reports that members of the Belize Defence Force (BDF) will face salary cuts following a memorandum from the Ministry of Finance.

In a statement, the Ministry of National Defence and Border Security said that the June 16, 2025 memorandum authorises an administrative correction to ensure that all BDF salaries, increments, and promotions align correctly with the approved 2019 pay scales, effective from June 1, 2019, based on a joint review with the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury Department.

“No salary cuts are being imposed on any BDF member,” the ministry said, adding that “not all BDF members were affected by an erroneous application of the adjusted pay scale”.

It said that “no member of the BDF will be required to repay any overpayments resulting from past errors,” and that the adjustment corrects instances where some soldiers were mistakenly placed on incorrect points of the pay scale, which affected their salary, increments, and promotions.

It also said “no retroactive payments will be made for the erroneous adjustments that were incorrectly applied in the past to some BDF members”  and that the government has approved two new allowances for BDF members effective May 1, 2024, namely the Jungle and Maritime Allowance and the Bush Allowance.

“These allowances will be paid retroactively starting with the July 2025 pay cycle. The Ministry assures all BDF members and the public that this exercise is a necessary administrative measure to maintain fairness, accuracy, and transparency in salary administration. “

Meanwhile, the president of the Association of Public Service Senior Managers, Sharon Fraser, says public sector trade unions have never been rigid about the 8.5 percent salary cut, but what they can’t accept are the conditions tied to the government’s latest proposal.

“They indicated that after this long speech about being responsible and we need to look after everybody, not just public sector workers, we got to the point where we were offered four… no, it increased by one to four percent for October this year. And the other four and a half in the following two years…subject to…pension reform”.

“So, three years, nothing changed. Well, that’s what the offer was. And the issue with the increment remained the same,” she told a packed meeting of the National Trade Union Congress of Belize  (NTUCB) that brought together a coalition of nine unions.

NTUCB President Ella Waight, in urging the unions to stand together, also called on the government to” immediately cease the politicisation of actions taken by union leaders and put an end to the personal attacks on their integrity.

“Union leaders are elected representatives of working people, not political pawns.  The attempt to undermine their character for political gain not only weakens the democratic voice of workers. But also erodes public trust in fair labour practices.

“This pattern of scapegoating is a dangerous distraction from the real issues facing our workforce and our workers, and an attempt to put an afront to the principles of justice, dignity, and collective bargaining,” Waight said, adding that responsible leadership demands respectful dialogue, not character assassination.

“If this, if this does not stop immediately, NTUCB will be submitting a case to the ILO Standards Application Committee,” Waight warned.