Last week we told you about the labour tensions building at the Port of Belize, between management and the unionized stevedores. Well, today it flared up again, and tonight the Port of Belize is saying, quote, "the Christian Workers Union is endeavoring to hold the Port and our country to ransom yet again." End quote.
The dispute arises out of the number of work gangs assigned to clear off a ship. Usually, it's two gangs per ship - but the CWU says that was only a good faith undertaking, and based on other long standing, unresolved grievances with the Port - they've now been reverting to one gang per ship - which has considerably slowed ship clearing.
The stevedores held an angry meeting today at the Rogers Stadium where we got some background on the dispute from the Chief Union Rep:
The Port of Belize issued a statement this afternoon saying,
"In May 2022 the CWU finally agreed to move away from a one gang, one ship operation to a two-gang rotation allowing for continuous loading and unloading. This benefit meant that the work on a vessel could be continuous as opposed to having to sit for nine (9) hours between shifts. This translated to less cost to Shippers, Agents and ultimately the Belizean consumer...
With the unilateral decision of the CWU to renege on our agreement and attempt to revert to the inefficient arrangement of one gang, one ship, the PBL finds itself in an undesirable position that will now cause the negative impact of delays on our customers and our community to access their goods. This means only one container gang will work a vessel for up to 15 hours; then the vessel has to move off the pier head and return 9 hours later to recommence operations. This cycle continues every 15 hours until the vessel is unloaded or more frequently has to leave incomplete due to obligations at another port. The ripple effect is that this prolongs the discharge and loading of the vessel thereby resulting in added cost.
PBL maintains that the CWU is endeavoring to hold the Port and our country to ransom yet again despite our continued efforts to build a better working relationship with our employees. We find the CWU's action irresponsible..." End quote. We'll keep following the dispute.
