Photo: Leonora Flowers, President, Christian Worker Union

The Christian Workers Union welcomes the government’s acquisition of the Port of Belize and now urges them to come to the table on the litany of outstanding grievances. 

by Marco Lopez

BELIZE CITY, Mon. Dec. 11, 2023

The leadership of the Christian Workers Union (CWU) today put on record that while they welcome the government’s acquisition of the Port of Belize, it was “not an ask of the CWU”. CWU president Leonora Flowers said that the payment of the ex-gratia monies which were frozen under injunction would be beneficial to those stevedores who did not receive payments – but it is not even the tip of the iceberg, as it relates to unresolved stevedores’ grievances.

At the top of the list is the outstanding sugar redundancy payment owed to the stevedores for loss of wages following the relocation of the sugar-loading operation from the Port of Belize facility to Big Creek.

“As we have said, this Ashcroft and Belize relations is a self-inflicted one by the Government of Belize – both governments from time to time – and we recognized that; and the people who have suffered the most are the workers, stevedores, our members,” Flowers said during a press conference held today at the CWU headquarters in Belize City.

Flowers contends that, while the recent government releases are touting the payment of the outstanding ex-gratia payment – totaling roughly BZ$473,000 – that money is “already in the bank,” in her words.

“Government at the moment, all the releases are saying that the stevedores are going to get the $473,000 that sits under the injunction. This is welcoming [news]for those stevedores who have not been paid based on the March 6 agreement; but it is nothing to play with, because that is not the sugar money that we have been discussing over the years,” Flowers said.

The CWU believes that with the government’s takeover, it is now time for them to once again engage to resolve the outstanding matters that have plagued the working relationship between the stevedores and the Port of Belize.

“That is what we want to bring 100% focus on. Sugar money is outstanding, the cases in the court – the government has said that they will take those over, the ESAT which we have just gotten the response from on Friday last, December 8, and for the PBL 35, there still sits the Labor Complaint Tribunal. On this side of the table there is a lot to be desired, and we expect, we anticipate, and CWU will ensure that the stevedores get what they deserve,” Flowers stated.

Today, a release from GoB revealed the composition of an interim board of the newly acquired PBL. Elena Smith was placed on that body as the labor representative.

Flowers of the CWU said, however, that while the stalwart trade unionist is a proven defender of workers’ rights, the CWU and National Trade Union Congress (NTUCB) were not consulted on her appointment to the new board.

“We would like for the Prime Minister to inform us, CWU, what is the interim board, what are their terms, what the responsibility, the role, and how long they will be in place, because CWU has not gotten an opportunity to put anyone on that board. The unions did not choose, the unions did not choose a representative,” Flowers noted.

She shared that there has been no voting within the network of the NTUCB, and suggested that Smith “has been placed there.”

“That placing there may be strategic; we don’t know,” Flowers noted.

While Flowers has aired her reservations over Smith’s appointment on the new PBL board, done without an explicit vote from the unions, she maintains that Smith is a valued member of the union community, but “the process is the process.”

For now, they are calling for an opportunity to place their representative on the board, since their members are employed by the now government-owned port entity. Since the 12-year-plus receivership has now come to a sudden end, the stevedores hope to chart a new, and non-contentious path forward with the new employers, but say that the initial signs seem all too typical.

“We are prepared to work with whoever takes over the port legally, but we need to be consulted; we need to know what’s going on. We have not been consulted, and already they are putting somebody there and saying they representing the union; and again I say, no disrespect to Sister Elena, but CWU was not consulted, neither was the NTUCB; no consultation, how could that be a new start? More disrespect,” Flowers explained.

The north star of the stevedores now is securing the sugar compensation derived from the 2020 agreement that outlined that if bulk sugar-loading operations were moved from PBL, stevedores should be remunerated for loss of wages. The CWU’s original requested amount for the redundancy payment to stevedores is $4.9 million. One stevedore contends that his salary has been reduced by $17,000 annually due to the move to Big Creek. On the strength of the Essential Services Tribunal (ESAT) ruling – which, according to the CWU upholds the call for compensation – they now call this government and the new PBL board to the table.

Bruce Diaz, stevedore and negotiator, explained, “We have not heard anything about sugar compensation. Yes, we have heard the Deputy Prime Minister said that we are going to get the $400,000 – that is under the water – that was the ex-gratia that was given to us. The stevedores are awaiting the payment for the loss of bulk sugar that left Belize and went down to Big Creek. This whole ESAT ruling has already ruled in our favor; clear understanding, the stevedores should negotiate a payment.”

Since the receivership of PBL is now out of the picture, those negotiations are to take place between the Government of Belize and the representatives of the stevedores, the CWU, exclusively. 

“Stevedores has been going through this for umpteen years, and this takeover took place in less than four to five days, so we are looking forward to the best from these people,” Diaz said.

Acknowledging the concerns of the stevedores, Senator Courtenay in his remarks in the Senate today said that job one, on day one, is to “restore proper harmonious labor relations at Port of Belize; that is going to be the first job.”

And in reference to the Union’s stated dissatisfaction with the board appointment, Senator Courtenay took the opportunity during today’s Senate debate on the Port Acquisition & Settlement Deeds Bill 2023 to clarify that, “It is an interim board; nowhere in the press release does the Prime Minister say ‘I am appointing this one to represent the union.’”

The days ahead will prove if “harmonious labor relations at Port of Belize” will be finally be realized.  Flowers says they are prepared to work with whoever takes over the port legally, but there must be consultation.