And while that young, black teenager was killed in cold blood, the southside stevedores are being kicked to the curb. Today the Christian Workers Union held an impromptu press conference where they explained that the sugar situation is downright sour since two ships have gone to Big Creek Port down south. This means that the stevedores at Port of Belize have incurred losses upwards of 180,000 dollars.
But they're not taking this lying down. The CWU has spent considerable time digging up a document which could work in their favor. An agreement signed by PBL and the previous prime minister, Said Musa in 2005, could change the trajectory of the current state of sugar shipments. The president, Evan "Mose" Hyde, explained more.
Evan "Mose" Hyde, President, CWU
"This agreement was signed between the government of Belize and PBL. Now an argument has been given that the MOU was an agreement between the government of Belie and Big Creek, but we didn't have any accompanying agreement between the government of Belize and PBL and nobody provided us with that, somebody whispered to us anonymously that it existed, and we have been looking for it. Well, we have it and we want to put it out to the nation to show that the concept of limiting big
creek was not some just lee understanding. I will read from that privatization agreement and the media is going to get its copy. It's an agreement that was signed by the former Prime Minister Said Musa and the chairman of PBL Luke Espat. And it says that the parties hereby ratify and confirm their agreement to be bound by the following, Big Creek license, GOB will restrict the license currently issued to Big Creek port to the operation of bananas and the importation of materials related to the banana industry. In the event that general cargo is received in the Big Creek port, GOB will pay damages to Port of Belize based on either the number of containers imported or the tonnage of materials as applicable. These damages will reflect the economic loss to Port of Belize."
But this document was used during a court case in 2007 - so why is it that PBL hasn't brought it up, seeing as though they're also losing out when the sugar ships go to Big Creek? That was the question the CWU asked since the CWU shouldn't be the only ones fighting back. He feels that it's a plot against the stevedores.
Evan "Mose" Hyde, President, CWU
"So all the while we have been here begging to find out what ground we stand on, what position we have. All the while, we were under this understanding that nobody knows anything about this agreement, all the while. And, they have all been in on this knowledge. It is insulting that you can look at us and know what is at stake for those members you see on Dean Street. and, it is the workers who have to be digging up, running done. Trust me; there is a lot of running down gawn on here to even get the MOU, much less to get this privatization cooperation agreement."
"What happens when you decide that PBL will have a cruise terminal and they start that you will do work on a cruise terminal. Or they decide that they got to fix their pier and close down operations, what happens to our members? What happens to our members if the people who do shipping decides we prefer the fact that Big Creek does not have unionized workers. What happens to our members then? We believe that the very fact that all this has been shrouded in such secrecy, speaks to the ever-growing suspicion that what we have here is organized, that what we have here is a big master plan and one of the objectives of that master plan is to put the stevedores under such distress that they are no longer a force to be reckoned with and our position right now is why is nobody else fighting? Why is it that only stevedores are fighting this."
