Yesterday, the waterfront workers had their say in an angry, bitter protest outside the Port compound. Well, this evening, the management of the private port has fired back.
A release says that for years, the shipping lines, in the form of the Belize Waterfront Employers' Association, have benefited from the loading and unloading of vessels with no benefit to the Port of Belize. That couldn't stand in the private era, and since privatization, the Port has been in discussion with the association to take over the loading and unloading of vessels. The Port has since rejected proposals to do the job on a different basis from the Waterfront Employers’ Association because today's release says those proposals were unacceptable.
In a nice bit of what may be seen as union busting, the release says that the Port will hire new stevedores with preference to those who have experience and urges stevedores to apply early.
The release concludes by saying that the Port of Belize has kept the government informed throughout, implying that it has the green light from Belmopan to bypass the union and its collective agreement and go ahead to hire its own stevedores.