The Cabinet also put out a statement on the labour dispute yesterday - and that one also seemed a bit off-key.
The Cabinet brief said, quote, "negotiations between the Christian Workers Union and the Port of Belize over the collective bargaining agreement between the staff of the Port of Belize were progressing steadily towards a successful outcome and that the matter involving the stevedores was now before the Labour Tribunal."
Hyde said that seemed kind of like self-congratulation:
Evan Mose Hyde - President, CWU
"To cover the fact that you are abandoning this issue of enormous proportions, we're talking here about PBL and CWU have to navigate what is going to be fair and just in a situation that is unimaginable in how the level distress it has caused. The only reason why things have not gone to another level is because there was this commitment of July 21st that the government and PBL would negotiate the redundancy. So, when we go to the members and say listen there has been this commitment then the members say okay let's see how this process is going to go. Compare with that with what the members feel when they are told, guess what, you will have to go into a world of attorneys in front of a government appointed tribunal, primarily 3 of the members are appointed by government, it's not a world that we have any mastery of, so you're putting us in a disadvantage position to try to figure our way out for something that is of, for some of them it's like the financial implications of what has taken place here has really rattled them to their core. There is level of anger that has only been inflamed by some of the comments that have been made by the people that have been chosen to serve the interest of all people in Belize. So, that statement that this is going to be fixed at the tribunal, put into the context of the agreement made of July 21st, is a slap in the face. The only thing we can cling to is that PBL has maintained a position since July 21st that it's going to negotiate the matter and that position it's going to negotiate the matter is the thing that gives a bit of sanity to our members ad mists a lot of crazy stuff being said and a great cloud of uncertainty."
