So it's left to be seen if the Ashcroft Alliance will wheel and come again with another legal challenge - as it always does - the government and the stevedores will have to fight them in court - because they have committed to NOT strike for a fixed period of time.
Now, the right to strike is one that's technically protected in Belize's constitution but not for an essential service. And the question today was whether in making this most recent agreement the Stevedores had Indefinitely signed away their right to engage in industrial action.
The PM says that could never be so explaining that the freeze on Port strikes will only last until June.
Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister of Belize
"No, they did not, they did not and it's not in the agreement, but what they have agreed to is that there will be no more strikes between now, until the negotiations of the next MOU which is due sometime around June or middle pf next year 2023. What they have agreed to is that they will sit down with PBL to be able to work out the issues. Remember there was a tribunal that was set up and so they are saying okay, let's work out our differences between now and the middle of next year when we are going to have a new collective bargaining agreement."
Reporter
"Thats dependent on good faith discussions though, right?"
Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister of Belize
"Thats dependent on everything. Lets take an extreme example: if PBL feels that the stevedores are being unreasonable and they decide to shut it down, because I can't operate under the conditions that the stevedores are asking, what can we do. Likewise, if stevedores believe that what the PBL is doing is unreasonable and unconscionable, they also may have a right, then we simply can't work under these conditions. So there has to be some sort of goodwill on both sides."
