Last night you saw both sides of the labour dispute between the Christian Workers Union, which is representing the stevedores, and the management of the Port of Belize. The negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement between the waterfront workers and the port's management have reached an impasse. And so the Government, through the Ministry of Labour, has had to step in a try to resolve it as a mediator, so that the stevedores don't strike in 21 days.
The dispute is based on hours of work. The Port wants the stevedores to stop working very long shifts - from the Port's perspective, it's against the labor law.
The stevedores - on the other hand - welcome the long hours of work, because they earn more.
Both sides aren't budging, so the Minister of State for Labour, Dr. Carla Barnett has been doing shuttle diplomacy to break the impasse.
After meeting with the both sides for three days, she told us while neither side has moved past the sticking point over hours of work, the discussions have, at the very least, been cordial and respectful:
Hon. Dr. Carla Barnett - Minister of State, Labour
"When we became involved, it was clear that both of them are sticking hard and fast to their positions, and they still are. What we have asked to be done is to have the Solicitor General prepare a legal opinion on what the law provides because both sides are claiming that the law is on their side. And so, we have to have independent - and that's the role that we have to play - an independent legal opinion to the Ministry, that will advise us on what is legal, and what isn't. The Solicitor General will have that to us by Monday, the latest Tuesday of next week. So, this morning when we met, it was to convey to them what we have been discussing individually, convey to them in a joint setting where we are. It is important to note that both sides have agreed that they are willing and prepared to return to the negotiating table on the matters that are outstanding. They have a long list of things that they have been negotiating for the last 6 years. A good portion of those things, they have already agreed on, and they've already signed MOU's - interim MOU's that are in force, that have been implemented. So, it's the remaining things, and of the remaining things, the big things are the hours of work, and the remunerations. So, they've agreed that they are willing to return to the table to discuss the remaining things. What I explained to the group this morning is that under the settlement of disputes in essential services act, the minister is required to act in a certain way. One is to determine whether a dispute does exist, and we have agreed that there is a dispute, an impasse, that exists on the matter of hours of work, and that once we get our legal opinion - and we will meet again next Wednesday - once we get a legal opinion on the matter, if we cannot get agreement from both sides, then we have to send it to the tribunal, which we will establish under the essential services act, which will make a decision on the matter. And that decision will be binding on everybody."
So, since the two sides have communicated a willingness to reach a CBA as soon as possible, we asked the Minister if she thinks that this impasse could be resolved without the need for industrial action from the stevedores:
Hon. Dr. Carla Barnett - Minister of State, Labour
"What I said to both sides this morning is that we cannot take away from any union the right to strike. Government can't do that. Employers can't do. There is a right to strike that is entrenched in the law. So, we cannot take away the right to strike, but what the essential services act does is set out a process for proceeding to strike action. Once we send it to the tribunal, I would expect that the union would take that into account to determine whether or not they still want to proceed to strike. Because, if they do, then they're not waiting for the matter to be determined within the context of the law."
Daniel Ortiz
"Do you get a sense that the dispute is cooling off, in terms of, we're closer to resolution? Or are the two sides drifting further apart in this dispute?"
Hon Dr. Carla Barnett
"I think that it's a really critical issue for both sides. It important for Port of Belize to put on the table that what they are trying to achieve is not necessarily a reduction in cost. So, they are prepared to receive from the union a counter proposal to what they have put on the table, to address any shortfalls that the union feels that their workers would suffer under a new system. So, one of the things that the union has also agreed to do is to come up with a counter proposal that would address any negative impact that their workers feel they would suffer under the system. And that would be in terms of in the pocket. And so, they have undertaken to do that. But, the union has been very clear - and they said it today - that even as they do that counter proposal, they are eliminating the right that they have to take industrial action, if they feel that it is progressing, is not one that is the realm addressing their concerns effectively."
A press release from the Government of Belize says that all sides agree to meet next week Wednesday to discuss the legal opinions on the working hours issue. We'll keep following the story closely.
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