And in other labour union news
Last night on channel 7's "Uncut", the guest was Mose Hyde, the President of the Christian Workers Union.
He discussed the long and combative relationship between the Port of Belize and the the stevedores, who are all members of the CWU.
One of the main areas of discussion was the Briceno Administration's agreement to make a 1.5-million-dollar ex gratia payment to the stevedores in compensation for hardships suffered as employees, due to the privatization of the Port.
This is after the stevedores and their union unearthed a 2005 agreement, signed by the then Musa Administration, which guaranteed the Port of Belize compensation in damages if a certain volume of shipping business went south to Big Creek. And, the big shipping business that went to that southern port is the bulk exports of raw sugar from BSI/ASR.
And while the compensation is due - the question is who should get it? That's what host Jules Vasquez asked Hyde:
Jules Vasquez
"Now, that this $1.5 million is on the horizon, there is the question and this issue has been raised invidiously by the Ashcroft alliance. There is a question of who gets it, because in 2006, the roster of stevedores, it's not the same roster of stevedores that are there today. So it seems that it wouldn't be fair for today's stevedores to get what was promised to the 2006 stevedores."
Evan "Mose" Hyde - President, CWU
"Stevedores, the negotiating team will decide how they will distribute the one and a half million dollars. From my standpoint, as the lead negotiator on President of CWU, and the whole CWU family, our guidance is to try and make sure that at all costs, it is done in a just manner. And, we have to try and make sure that the million and a half dollars don't become a poison to us, where we ended up becoming divided and become drawn at each other. So, that is obviously something that we hope and we are making every effort to accomplish. We are trying to make sure that everybody feels represented and the team has really been putting in a lot of work trying to engage members. Listen, this is what we think we need to do and that process is underway. I can tell you this, we were not soliciting, and we are not interested in getting any advice from the Lord."
