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She told us that so far, she is optimistic that this dispute can be worked out, as long as the two sides agree to discuss and negotiate in good faith:

Hon. Dr. Carla Barnett, Minister of State - Labour
"Well we met today. The representatives from the port and from the union. We had a good meeting I think. At the end of the meeting the two sides agreed that they would come back to the negotiating table. Both sides were very strong, that they understood and they were prepared to return to the negotiating table. There are outstanding items to be negotiated and they want to complete the bargaining agreement. They agree to come back to the table next Wednesday. So next week Wednesday they will have their first meeting and at that meeting I expect they will discuss how they are going to proceed since the negotiations were put on hold couple weeks ago. So for me that's good news. The only thing about that is that the union needed to go back and discuss with the rest of its negotiating team, because one or two members weren't there. They just wanted to be sure that everybody was onboard. But based on how the meeting went I would expect that we will be seeing the two sides meet next week Wednesday."

"We have offered and what has been accepted is for the ministry to have an observer in the meeting, in order to be able to advise me on how the meetings are proceeding, because the possibility of having to send the matter that precipitated the 21 days' notice - that matter is still to be addressed and depending on how effective they are in addressing that, we have to determine whether or not that still needs to go to the tribunal to be set up for the purpose."

So, to the central issue itself, Dr. Barnett has told us that Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte's research on the topic says that basically the Port's position on the 15-hour workday restriction is right. Legally, workers in this country should not exceed a 15-hour work-shift, or else that is unlawful.

But, there is an exception, because the labour laws does not contemplate the type of work that the stevedores engage in, and why their shift may need to be more than 15 hours at at time.

We've seen a copy of AG Peyrefitte's legal opinion, and it says, quote, "The law also states that the Minister of Labour… is allowed to make exemptions… The Minister may…exempt… any undertaking, business or establishment, or…any class of workers.

Peyreffite concludes:
"I advise therefore that the Minister is empowered to make the exception in this case, as it relates to stevedores… This would allow stevedores to work the hours they want, and at the same time, absolve the PBL of any legal liability, as it relates to hours worked."

We got a chance to ask the Minister Barnett if she is minded to do as AG Peyrefitte has recommended, and she told us yes, but not just yet. She said that she wants to continue to observe whether or not the 2 sides can work it out through earnest negotiations:

Hon. Dr. Carla Barnett, Minister of State - Labour
"The legal opinion has determine that the labour laws does apply to the stevedores in respect of the hours of work, which means that under the present arrangement also, we've not been enforcing the law. The stevedores would normally and other categories of workers being limited to the 15 hours per day. But what the attorney general also said in the legal opinion is that the minister has the scope to determine an exception to those requirements. If there is a need to do that, I haven't determine that that is what I would want to do. I would want to have a discussion and see if they can come to an agreement on how they want to proceed."

"What is interesting is the attorney general's ministry is also clear that the law that was put on the book was really not - it did not really contemplate the kind of work that the stevedores do. So it does not really apply to their scope of work and the way they work in many ways."

"The legal opinion that the Christian Workers Union procured as well pretty much says the same thing, that this is what the law says, that you can only work for this period of time and you have to rest for this period of time. If you do otherwise you are working outside of the law. It was clear in that and it also says that in fact the law does not seem to provide for the kind of work that the stevedores do and so there is an issue that we have to sort out and we have to figure out the best way to do it. One way to do it is the way the attorney general pointed out to me which is to create an exception on the law and the other way to do it is to create a particular category or worker that would encompassed the stevedores. I am advised that other countries have taken that route, because stevedores do tend to work odd shifts and down shifts whenever we see them in other parts of the world."