The newspaper understands that after the picketing in Belmopan on Monday, it would be decided whether the stevedores would strike within the next 21 days.

The newspaper has also been told that the primary shareholder of Port of Belize Limited (PBL), Luke Espat, met with several foremen from the stevedore gangs today. At press time, however, we were unable to determine the outcome of that meeting.

After picketing earlier this week, on Monday, October 25, at the gates of PBL, sparked by PBL?s advertisements for stevedores last weekend in the local newspapers, the stevedores came together again yesterday, Wednesday, and with their union, the BCWU, attempted to picket the Belize City office of Prime Minister, Hon. Said Musa. But Musa, they learned, was not in office, and was not even in the city, said the General Secretary of BCWU, James McFoy.

The BCWU then decided that their next best option was to picket Luke Espat?s office at Indeco (Calle al Mar near the Princess Casino), McFoy explained.

A group of about 30 stevedores gathered in front of Indeco Enterprises Limited offices, where Espat is said to have his main office.

The stevedores, since their protest on Monday at the gates of PBL, have been pointing to Espat as their principal target in the stand off. Some of the placards that the stevedores have been carrying, both on Monday and this morning, state that they (the stevedores) do not want to work for Espat or for PBL. (Amandala was told by a reliable source that Luke Espat was also not in his Indeco office yesterday morning during the stevedores? protest.)

As it stands now, PBL contracts the Belize Waterfront Employers? Association, with whom the stevedores are currently employed, and which has the necessary equipment to do the loading and off loading of vessels at the port.

McFoy told Amandala that one of the main reasons the stevedores do not want to work for PBL is because the private port company does not have equipment adequate for the job. McFoy explained that the lack of suitable equipment has the stevedores concerned about their safety. He said that they (the stevedores) do not understand how PBL could want to assume the responsibility for the loading and off loading of vessels if they do not have the necessary equipment.

PBL issued a press release on Tuesday, October 26, stating nine points to clarify its position regarding the stevedores. The PBL press release clearly stated that the stevedores are not employees of PBL, and do not have a contractual relationship with the private company.

The release also noted that PBL has ?a legal obligation to provide services for the loading and off loading of vessels,? and that the stevedoring services have been ?traditionally provided by the Belize Waterfront Employers? Association [?] without any corresponding benefit to the [PBL].?

The feeling of some of the stevedores is that PBL wants to bypass the Waterfront Employers Association and hire them directly, because the PBL thinks they, the stevedores, make too much money, and the only way to control their salaries is to employ them directly.

One stevedore told Amandala that PBL intends to reduce the number of stevedores that work in a gang. Presently, there are fifteen stevedores in each of the eight gangs that work at the port, but PBL wants to reduce the gangs to ten men. That could mean that as many as 40 stevedores would be out of a job.

The stevedores think that the PBL plan to reduce the number of men in a gang is a bad one. Several stevedores explained to the newspaper that it is already too much work to load and off load vessels with fifteen men in one gang, and it would be nearly impossible to get the job done with only ten men in one gang.

Of interest, the PBL release made it clear that the company would ?welcome union representation for the stevedores? once PBL completes its process of hiring them, while also noting that all PBL employees currently have union representation.

On Monday, the matter of whether the stevedores would be allowed to join a union was a main concern for the protesting stevedores. One stevedore had told the newspaper that if they were not represented by the BCWU, they would lose their negotiating power, something that the stevedores feel is PBL?s main objective in seeking to hire stevedores on an individual basis.

The PBL release, as in their newspaper advertisement, urged the stevedores to apply early for a position with PBL to secure their employment with the company; the release further references the newspaper ad, saying that the PBL would give preference to applicants with stevedoring experience.

Amandala now understands that the stevedores are concerned with the salary they would be offered at PBL, considering that the salary they currently make is a very good one. One source told the newspaper that some stevedores make as much as sixty thousand dollars per annum, but that they earn it because of the risk they take when on the high seas.