C.W.U. and Port of Belize at Odds, Again

Evan ‘Mose’ Hyde

The Christian Workers Union and the Port of Belize Limited are battling over salary cuts. In every sector, businesses have had to take cuts to survive. So the P.B.L. on Friday issued a press statement in which it said that it will go ahead to cut salaries of workers due to the financial challenges brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic. P.B.L. says that after experiencing a severe reduction in business, certain measures have to be instituted to avoid any staff layoffs.  Those measures include salary reductions of twenty and fifteen percent, but members of the C.W.U., who are employed as staff at the Port, are facing a ten percent pay cut.  But during a meeting, members of the C.W.U. voted down the proposal.  Today, President Evan ‘Mose’ Hyde characterized the Port’s action as illegitimate.

Evan ‘Mose’ Hyde, President, Christian Workers Union

“In a press release sent out by Port of Belize Limited (PBL) on Friday, June 12th , 2020 the company seeks to convince the public of an unlikely narrative, where it is a corporate entity of noble character and conscience, and that while hemorrhaging financially, it is doing its best to look out for its staff during these trying times. In this work of fiction, PBL describes itself as a company that has been reasonable and respectful, and the Christian Workers Union as being unfair – and the consensus position of its Members illegitimate. CWU cannot leave this wholly inaccurate representation of PBL’s record unchallenged for fear that it might actually be viewed as truthful. First of all, the Union was not invited to a discussion; our Representatives were basically provided with the details of a decision that had already been made, without any input or consultation. The Union was then expected to inform our Members of the decision. As it concerns the Collective Agreement, for almost two decades, despite the efforts of staff and the CWU, PBL has made absolutely no effort to engage in the renegotiation of their staff’s stale Collective Agreement. Worse, the existing Agreement, which is already inadequate/insufficient, has been ignored and violated repeatedly.   It’s only natural, therefore, that our Members don’t accept that it is fair to cut their salaries by ten percent without the disclosure of the company’s financials. It is very likely that our Members have already made their COVID-19 sacrifices before it even existed as a challenge, if the company cannot comply with this CBA requirement and justify the noncompliance with the five percent bonus.”