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President Mose Sticking With Stevedores
posted (April 9, 2018)
But, as Hyde was suggesting, he does have his hands full with the business of the Christian Workers Union, and entire membership, whose labor rights he must attempt to protect.

One such group who he will answer to are the stevedores who worker at the Port of Belize. You'll know very well that the stevedores are hard bargainers, who can become inflexible when they agree on a sticking point, and they certainly are not to afraid to take industrial action when they deem it necessary.

The waterfront workers are made up of strong personalities such as Raymond Rivers, the stevedore-turned grassroots activist.

He attended this weekend's AGM as a member of CWU, and Rivers became boisterous and disruptive during a speech by attorney Lisa Shoman. She was invited to address the CWU membership as a guest speaker, and in the middle of her presentation, Rivers disrupted her talk with shouting and slamming of chairs.

Reports are that the topic in Shoman's talk which he reacted to was a discussion of Caleb Orozco and his success in the fight for gay rights.

We asked Hyde about the confrontation between him and Shoman - and whether this union firebrand will be sanctioned for it. Here's what President Hyde had to say:

Evan Mose Hyde, New CWU President
"The best way to respond to that is that everybody is quite conscious of the fact that stevedores are very passionate. They are very engaged, they are very forceful and it's not the first time that there has been a gathering of members of the union where it became very boisterous and contentious. I detected no sign of any physical threat. It was just a very passionate back and forth conversation and it might have disrupted the presenter which is unfortunate, but it didn't disrupt the AGM as per say because everything proceeded. We have to make ourselves become more understanding. We have to develop trust across entities. We have to develop trust even from an executive position, from a secretariat position with members. There is a long road to travel."

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