We turn now to the CWU President's comments on the big money lawsuit that the management of the Port of Belize has brought against the stevedores and the leadership of their union.
On Friday, we told you about the suit filed on PBL's behalf in which the company is claiming special damages of 1.034 million dollars, along with costs and other relief as the court may deem fit.
The Port alleges that because of last months' strike by the stevedores, which the company insists was illegal, they were unlawfully prevented from loading and unloading cargo containers for a period of eight days, causing substantial economic loss. The claim form names 7 defendants, including CWU president, Evan "Mose" Hyde, and other members of the union.
Last night, Jules asked "Mose" about staring down the barrel of a lawsuit brought by the Ashcroft Alliance:
Jules Vasquez
"It has to be a quite chilling moment for you all when you see a name on a 1,000,000 dollar lawsuit."
Evan "Mose" Hyde - President, CWU
"So, I'd only met with the team this morning, and then, [I] had to have a meeting with the board of CWU. I essentially left from that board meeting, right up the street, to come here. Essentially, I had to put myself in front of the board - which I did - and to see that as the person who is the lead negotiator and as the president. You know, ultimately, CWU has been named in this court case [as] one of the defendants. And so, I had to essentially see if I still had if I still have the support of the board. Ultimately, you know, I can't assume that the members of the Board are comfortable with the fact that the battles that we have fought, and the way that we have fought them, has brought us to this moment, which, you know, it is our opponent's superpower: litigation. Many people get in the ring with that superpower and are not successful. And so it is not this is not something this is not some small thing right now for a union that has limited resources, members that have limited resources are needed to see despite a big name and a big mouth, I don't have a lot of resources. So $1,000,000 is a huge deal for us. And so, I had to put that to the board. Just know to say, Listen, you guys have to let me know whether or not you want me to continue on as president because ultimately I have to bear the responsibility of the fact that the union is looking down the barrel of 1,000,000 dollar gun being led by one of the I mean it comes on the comes from the attorney, Godfrey Smith. Everybody knows this is a heavyweight attorney that is bringing this court case. So essentially the board has Well, thankfully for me said, well, they are behind us, they are with me and give me a vote of confidence, which means a lot because I can't assume that that is their position. And I feel that with that commitment, no, we can try to figure a way forward with this matter."
