Gas haulers strike averted

A petroleum haulers strike couldn’t have come at a worse time, just as thousands of Belizeans are hitting the highways and waterways to get away for the Easter weekend. But although the Belize Petroleum Haulers Association were adamant about their refusal to continue working without a contract with Shell Belize, a meeting convened by Minister of Transport Cordel Hyde appears to have diffused the tension. Both parties agreed to try and end the impasse in the contract negotiations and to have their attorneys finalize the prospective contract. The haulers have agreed to resume service and both parties will meet again with the minister on April nineteenth. Earlier today the Association’s Vice Chairman Nelson Gallardo told News 5 that contract negotiations had been proceeding fairly smoothly until Tuesday when Shell announced its decision not to sign, saying the oil company would only be willing to negotiate with individual fuel haulers. Gallardo says the Association expressed a willingness to help facilitate the deal in the interest of protecting its members and to ensure that they were being treated fairly, but Shell told them they did not want the Association’s involvement. He says the main fear was that Shell would not honour the government’s set price of seven cents per gallon for haulage, and says that some of the haulers reported being paid as little as three and three quarter cents per gallon. He claims that when they expressed dissatisfaction, they were told they could quote, “take it or leave it.” Gallardo says he believed the three non-association haulers are trying to corner the market and that the majority of the haulers will be at a disadvantage unless they negotiate a deal from a unified position. Gallardo says they have no quarrel with Esso, which had signed contracts with all their haulers individually before the association was formed, and indicated their willingness to allow the Association to negotiate future contracts. News 5 was unable to reach the General Manager of Shell, Joe Habet, for comment, but this afternoon Shell Belize Limited issued a press release saying it has difficulties with the Belize Petroleum Haulers Association Act passed by the government in January. Shell believes the Act unfairly gives the Association the power to decide who can work in the fuel transportation industry and alleges that the Association has unfairly excluded some fuel tank operators from working in the industry. Shell says it cannot sign any agreement, which it believes violates the fundamental right of any business or individual in a free society to choose its partners.