Tonight water front workers are preparing to battle with management at the Port of Belize. Their beef is a decision taken on Friday for the port to use 14 instead of 15 men to off load a ship.

And while one less man might sound inconsequential – for the stevedores, their bread and butter is in jeopardy. This morning they met with union leaders to chart a way forward and here is a short sample of the heated discussion………………………

Stevedore #1,
“We need to go to Port now, get there and let them know we want to meet with them, very important meeting starting today, and let them understand that they are violating the rights of the workers and the union.”

Antonio Gonzalez, President – CWU
“We will ask for a meeting with the Labor Commissioner and the Port and we. I won’t say we won’t do that but we will try and go to the Labor Commissioner.”

Stevedore #1,
“And after that we step further. What they are doing right now they are just saying dictatorship and they will do what they want. We have to get this thing started. They started a ball game that will finish with the ball.”

A meeting was planned with Port of Belize management but we were unable to find out the result. The workers this morning vowed to take it to the labor commissioner, the court, and then if all that fails, the street.