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PBL meets with CWU on behalf of stevedores

GeneralPBL meets with CWU on behalf of stevedores


At the onset of the dispute, the stevedores were contending that PBL primary shareholder and chairman, Luke Espat, was trying to create a dictatorship at the port, something they claimed they would not allow. The stevedores were also contending that Espat was trying to put them out of work, a suspicion that apparently was proven when PBL advertised in the local newspapers that the private company was ?now hiring stevedores.?


The Belize Port Authority (BPA) had stepped in and flexed its muscle, telling PBL that before it could take over the stevedoring at the port, the company would first have to make a submission that addressed matters such as the cost effectiveness, efficiency, and safety measures for its stevedoring plan.


The Prime Minister, Said Musa, had also intervened at the request of the CWU; PM Musa?s intervention led to a twenty-one day extension followed by another twenty-one day extension.


The CWU had given PBL a proposal that listed terms and conditions on issues like wages and benefits. PBL, however, did not readily reply to the union?s proposal. After the stevedores picketed at PBL?s gate on three separate occasions, and once in front of Luke Espat?s Indeco Enterprises office, after attempting to picket PM Musa?s Belize City office, and threatening to picket in Belmopan, Government again intervened.


On Tuesday, November 2, CWU honchos, accompanied by a stevedore representative, met with PBL and a GOB representative, who was tasked with being the mediator. The CWU representatives were Antonio Gonzales (president), Emerson Burke (vice president), and James McFoy (general secretary). The stevedore that was present in the meeting was Delphin Mu?oz.


PBL?s representatives were Luke Espat (chairman of PBL) and Rey Guerrero. PM Musa appointed the Minister of National Development, Assad Shoman, as the mediator in the negotiating process.


Gonzales told Amandala yesterday morning that the Tuesday meeting was only partially productive. He noted that PBL put forward several schemes, two of which addressed the working conditions at PBL.


PBL told the CWU that once the stevedores have applied for vacancies at PBL, they would be subject to random drug tests ? a point on which Gonzales was strongly against. Moreover, PBL said that it would not be able to grant another extension, and intends to uphold its application deadline set for Friday, November 5.


He said, however, that PBL had agreed to submit a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to the CWU by 10:00 Wednesday morning to present to the stevedores for consideration.


When Gonzales met with the stevedores on Wednesday morning (around 10:00), however, the union had still not received the draft MOU from PBL.


Also, in the CWU meeting on Wednesday was the union?s recently acquired legal advisor, Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Dean Oliver Barrow. And according to Gonzalez, Barrow has assured the stevedores that ?legally, they [stevedores] have a good case.?


In fact, the CWU did not receive the draft MOU from PBL until around 5:00 on Wednesday evening. Gonzales, however, declined to comment on its contents. He would only say that the document was being reviewed by CWU officials and after legal consultation, would be taken to the stevedores for consideration. He did note that so far, the CWU had some grave concerns about some of the points made in the draft MOU.


The newspaper also spoke with a source about exactly what transpired in the Tuesday meeting, in an effort to shed some light on where the CWU and PBL now stand.


The source told the newspaper that PBL did inform the union that the stevedores who apply would be subject to random drug tests and would also need to provide a copy of their police records. The source did note, however, that drug tests and the police record were not measures that should be seen as unreasonable, because these are measures that correspond to the international standards that the port must meet, and current PBL employees also have to meet these measures.


These measures, our source remarked, became especially important following the 9/11 attack on the United States, and it is important that the port meet these requirements, since most of the business at the port is done with the United States.


The source commented that it is possible that the union president strongly objects to the random drug tests because he feared that some of the stevedores who apply would not pass the drug test.


Information on the Internet notes that after the consumption of marijuana (cannabinoids), the drug is detectable in a person?s system for between 14 to 60 days; cocaine is detectable between 1 to 4 days, and alcohol is detectable up to 24 hours after ingestion.


The newspaper?s source went on to say that other points that were discussed in the meeting, included the application process, union representation for PBL stevedores, the size of stevedore gangs, and safety while working at PBL.


On the point of the application process, it was agreed that after the November 5 deadline passes, there would be a two-week span for a review committee to process the applications, and that there would be officials from CWU on the review committee to represent the interests of their stevedores.


In the matter of the police record, the source noted that those who have been charged or convicted of ?trivial? offenses would likely not be affected. But in the case of those who have been charged or convicted of more serious crimes like grievous harm or murder, they would understandably be affected.


On the point of union representation, PBL reiterated that it is not against its employees becoming members of a union. According to our source, Espat made it very clear that he is not opposed to union representation for any of his employees, and again pointed out that the stevedores are currently not PBL employees but in fact are employees of BWEA. The newspaper also understands that Espat mentioned in the meeting that his decision to meet with the CWU to reach some mutual accord was a show of good faith, and not an obligation on PBL?s part.


Where safety for the stevedores who would be hired at PBL is concerned, the company made it clear that because it has to meet international standards, the stevedores would not have a reason to think that PBL would not ensure their safety while on the job. It was made known that the PBL stevedores would have to wear proper attire, such as hard hats and so on, and would receive on-the-job training in safety precautions and first aid procedures.


One of the most important concerns the stevedores have is whether PBL would decrease their wages. PBL ?tentatively? agreed that the rates at which the stevedores are currently paid would not be affected if they become employees of PBL.


Another weighty concern that was addressed in the Tuesday meeting was whether the size of the gangs would be reduced. Espat told the CWU that while PBL would reduce the size of the gangs, the company also intends to increase the number of gangs that work the ships, in effect, making the loading and unloading of the ships more efficient.


The newspaper spoke to another source who works closely with the stevedores. This source told the newspaper that making the gangs smaller would not mean that the stevedores would be unable to do get their job done; it only meant that all the stevedores in the gangs would have to work ? laziness would not be tolerated.


This source commented that some of the practices of the stevedores have become so ingrained in their work routine that issues like the size of the gangs ?are really tradition.?


Amandala has learned that the reason that Luke Espat/PBL now wants to control the stevedoring at the port is because of the finances that is involved in that venture. One person told the newspaper that while a stevedore could make anywhere between $50,000 and $70,000 per annum, the shipping agents are raking in at least $5 million per annum.


The newspaper has learned from a highly reputable source that PBL made a profit of about $1 million last year. We understand that with the shipping agents making five times as much as PBL by offering a service that PBL has a right to offer, it is easy to see why Espat wants to dip his hand in that cookie jar.


This morning the stevedores had planned to picket outside the gates of PBL, but with inclement weather, the CWU has postponed the picketing until tomorrow ? the PBL deadline for the stevedore applications.


As for the deadline, Gonzales told the newspaper this afternoon that the stevedores are still being encouraged not to apply. He added that the CWU is hoping that through the intervention of GOB, the PBL application deadline would not affect the negotiation process.

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