Stevedores Say They are Not on Strike, Despite Impasse with P.B.L.

The plight of waterfront workers at the Port of Belize continues one week after stevedores informed their employer that they were reverting to the exact terms of a collective bargaining agreement.  The C.B.A. signed between the Christian Workers Union and the Port of Belize Limited specifies a “one gang, one ship” arrangement.  Despite the inefficiency of that system, dockworkers agreed on their own, along with various shipping agencies, that they would double the manpower so as to expedite the process of discharging cargo vessels that call to port.  The C.W.U. says that it was an act of good faith, while the Port of Belize honored the decision of the Essential Services Arbitration Tribunal.  That body awarded stevedores compensation by their employer when the sugar industry relocated its deliveries of bulk sugar to Big Creek, negatively affecting their wages.  After fifteen months of anticipating payment, the stevedores decided to return to the letter of the collective bargaining agreement, one gang, one ship.  They say that’s where the latest controversy began.  Tonight, we start with a press conference that was held at the C.W.U. headquarters where Chief Union Representative Marlon Middleton shared his experience.

Marlon Middleton

Marlon Middleton, Chief Union Representative, C.W.U.

“The stevedores shared with us that they are ready to stand.  When they say ready to stand, we did not go on any strike.  I have video evidence that we have been working through the weekend.  I have shared with the media, I have sent it to countless media bodies that we were working through the weekend.  When it comes to sacrifices, our stevedores are… mek ah put it eena layman terms.  Myself, I da wahn stevedore, right, I da noh just the chief rep, I da wahn stevedore.  My gang was supposed to work this week, I have a loan to pay.  I di sacrifice, all ah di stevedores di sacrifice and we tiad, we tiad ah this.  Yoh sih me wid my tears right now, we tiad, we tiad ah tek dis lick.  All we di ask PBL da fi get affa our money mein, weh we deserve. We noh di back down guys.  Ah noh got nothing much fi seh because ah noh wahn get ketch saying the wrong thing, but I am hurt because we fight everyday fi dis country, we work haad, right.  We put fu we life pan di line fi dis country, fi everybody eena dis country and people tek we di wrong way and seh that all we do da fight fi money.  Dehn ya da money weh we deserve mein. We keep di get bullied and dis da weh paat di buck ends.  I repeat it again, we are not on strike.  We noh di do it di wrong way.  We just di mek sure di public and whosoever need fi step een fi help we understand weh we di come from, yoh undastand.”