Unions Mobilize Against BTL-SMART Deal

Organized labour is preparing to take its opposition to BTL's proposed acquisition of SMART to the streets, with an NTUCB demonstration and rally set for Tuesday, August 18.

The planned action—which also is connected to a Friday, August 14th, show of support by wearing black—marks an escalation in organized opposition to the proposed acquisition of Speednet Communications Limited by the government-owned Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL), moving the trade union response from public concerns and calls for greater consultation toward collective demonstration.

While the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB) had not issued a public statement announcing the demonstration up to press time, an August 12 memorandum from the Belize National Teachers' Union (BNTU) confirms that its membership intends to participate in what it describes as a peaceful demonstration and rally being organized by the Congress.

The memorandum, signed by BNTU National President Nadia Martin Caliz and addressed to managers and administrators of government and grant-aided educational institutions, states that teachers from across Belize will join other union affiliates in protesting the proposed acquisition of SMART by BTL, as well as other issues it says have been mounting.

The union advised that participating teachers would therefore be unable to take part in professional-development activities scheduled for August 18.

The BNTU ended its notice with the declaration: "We Shall NOT be Moved."

The Reporter has also been informed that the NTUCB met on Tuesday, August 11, when a motion was tabled and unanimously adopted that the Congress would not remain silent on the proposed acquisition. No official NTUCB release confirming the details of that meeting had been issued up to press time.

The planned demonstration comes as another NTUCB affiliate—the Belize Communications Workers Union (BCWU), which represents workers at BTL—has withdrawn its previous support for the acquisition as currently proposed.

In an August 10 statement, the BCWU said 84 percent of its membership no longer supports the transaction in its present form, following an emergency membership meeting held on August 6.

The position represents a reversal from earlier this year.

According to the BCWU, BTL employees participated in a virtual town hall on January 22, after which a majority supported the proposed acquisition. The union stressed, however, that the support was given on the express understanding that concerns previously raised by the BCWU would be adequately addressed.

Those concerns included job security for existing BTL employees, the costs and financial implications of consolidation, procurement and approval procedures, governance and disclosure, whether SMART employees would be eligible to join the BCWU, and calls for a phased acquisition process involving consultation with the NTUCB.

As stated earlier, the NTUCB is also calling on members and citizens to show support on Friday, August 14th. On their official social media page they wrote:

“This Friday, 14 August 2026, we call on workers, union members, and all concerned Belizeans to WEAR BLACK as a peaceful demonstration of our strong objection to the proposed acquisition of Speednet by BTL. … This is about more than two companies. It is about workers, consumers, competition, investment, and the future of telecommunications in Belize.

Let us show that Belizeans are paying attention and that our voices matter when decisions are being made that affect our economy, our workers, and our country.”