But what are the stevedores themselves saying? One of the reasons cited for the sugar to go to Big Creek instead of PBL is because of the go slow the workers were on due to the CBA's stalled negotiations. This had a major impact on the shipment, the company, and the cane farmers. But the stevedores are saying that this is what they had to do to get the attention of the authorities, and they don't regret it. But now this move by the government will have a ripple effect since the stevedores aid in job creation, which keeps criminals off the street.
James Neal, Stevedore
"They gave us a certain time more or less, they say from way back about 3-4 years that this thing is going down south. Until we got an understanding that this 2021 would be the last shipment for Belize City for bulk sugar. Now, the reason why we took industrial action is because we are trying to engage with these people for us to sit down and talk, but nobody come talk to we. We even come to you all already with a press conference. We went to the Minister, ASR, Port and nobody come. So, we know we will lose. So we had to take industrial action to bring the attention to us. And that is where we are. Now the ship is gone. We believe they should pay us for the rest of that ship. We want the Port CEO understand that it's not everybody works container, you have majority of the guys who only work sugar, so when you move this bulk sugar, what do they have? nothing for their family and then beside that you have a lot of hustlers now. This is what keeps a lot of crime out of this country. So when no job are there for these people, what do you expect - the crime rate will pop up because they don't have anything in place of it and then they are not saying to come and talk to us and pay us something, to satisfy us to try and do something else. That is where we are right now and that's why we had to take industrial action."
Wilfred Dennison, Stevedore
"Not only us the stevedores, a lot of people look out from the street side, trying to keep them out of problems. That is where they get their income from and that's the part that hurts us. There is nothing for them no more."
And one of the stevedores said he feels like the government didn't think twice about the food it was taking out of the mouths of the average struggling southside working man.
Reporter
"Do you feel like government, they even consider something like this, has no regard for the poor black man who works on the streets to try to feed their families."
Kenton Blanco, Stevedore
"I believe if they did the ships would have been here still. That move wouldn't have been made if they had considered the guys from the southside, the stevedores. We sacrifice ourselves when we made that decision to go slow. But, we will live with that sacrifice. We live with our decision. But, I wonder how they sleep at night knowing they take that decision to take millions of dollars out of poor people, black men, I hate to use that term black men. But how to they feel? How do they sleep at night what they look at this press conference and see these brothers are speaking for their right? How do they feel. I have to go back to what my president said when documents like these exists and we the minority to them, the ones that don't give a damn, have to go and seek these information to make sure that we get what is rightfully ours."
