Stevedores protest Port hiring policy
The controversy over the Carnival Cruise Terminal is not the only hot issue at the Belize City Port. Today the men who work the Cargo ships were out in force, protesting the new labour arrangements that accompany the Port’s transition from public to private ownership. News 5’s Patrick Jones has the story.
Patrick Jones, Reporting
It was this advertisement in the weekend press that triggered this morning?s picket at the Ports of Belize Limited compound on Caesar Ridge Road. Seventy-five stevedores accompanied by leaders of the Christian Workers Union which represents them, braved the mid morning heat and dust to register their displeasure with Port?s decision to start accepting employment applications. C.W.U president Antonio Gonzalez says it?s a slap in the face for the union.
Antonio Gonzalez, President, Christian Workers Union
?The Port of Belize management is behaving in a very dictatorial manner in the sense that the first of September we got an extension to the thirteenth of October to have discussions with the Port of Belize management. On the first of October the union submitted some proposals to the Port of Belize so that we could discuss and to see whether we could have an amicable settlement than whatever was there. Up to date we haven?t received a reply to our proposals. Only to look in newspapers over the weekend, they are now saying that they are hiring stevedores. I mean this is a blatant blow to any good industrial relations.
But while these men pound the pavement to draw public attention to their plight, General Secretary of the Christian Workers Union James McFoy says the apparent breakdown in relations between the two sides is because of the hard line stance taken by the port management.
James McFoy, C.W.U. General Secretary
?We even asked Mr. Mahler that if this agreement that we have with the agents, the association will expire about a year and a half from now. We asked them if we could live this agreement out and then when that expires then we could go and negotiate with them on a new basis. He went back and he said he could agree but we have to check with Mr. Luke Espat and others. He came back and he said the man said no. Mr. Luke Espat said no.?
At a meeting prior to the protest, Gonzalez and McFoy discussed the current state of negotiations with the stevedores and advised them to decline the offer made in the Port of Belize advertisement. Gonzalez says it?s regrettable that over thirty years of working relations between the union and the port, appear headed for a total meltdown.
Antonio Gonzalez
?There is no kind of money situation right now. All we want is job security. That is what we want. That is the main thing right now, job security. We want that the skilled stevedores our members continue to work as stevedores.?
Patrick Jones
?Have you gotten any indication from the Ports of Belize Limited that that won?t happen??
Antonio Gonzalez
?At this stage we cannot say that that is it, because they don?t want to dialogue with us.?
James McFoy, C.W.U. General Secretary
?Their mission is to take over the whole picture, the stevedoring first and then they will take over the whole agency, they will bring in their own cargo and they will be doing their own thing. So this is only one of the steps. So if we don?t stop them now, then it will be a problem.?
Patrick Jones
?Do you think that you can stop them??
James McFoy
?Well we are prepared to go as far as we could go. We?ll go as far as to the courts if possible.?
Although emotions were as warm as the mid morning sun, the protestors kept their cool, relying on their placards to voice their discontent. They wrapped up their march just before midday. Patrick Jones, for News 5.
Chief Executive Officer Alberto Mahler declined an on camera interview, but told News 5 that the stevedores being represented by the Christian Workers Union are employed by the shipping agents and therefore the Port cannot negotiate with them. Mahler says the weekend newspaper advertisement is meant to offer the stevedores an opportunity to be employed by Port of Belize Limited, at which point the company will be in a position to negotiate. Mahler says that according to the prospectus for the sale of the Port, the new owners have the option to load and off load ships themselves. They now feel they are ready to take over this role. He says that the position of the C.W.U. to advise the stevedores not to register with the company is unfortunate. While Mahler says that he would prefer for the current employees to make the switch from the shipping agents to the port, in the end he will have to hire stevedores wherever he can find them. The Christian Workers Union currently represents approximately three hundred stevedores who work on a rotational basis. Gonzalez says he has sent off a letter to the Prime Minster requesting a meeting to try and work out a solution to the current impasse. Should that fail, Gonzalez says the union will consider other options, including more protests.
