The dispute centers around a disagreement on the number of hours of work that the stevedores engage in on a regular basis. They often exceed the 15 hours of labour per day that the law stipulates.

The Port wants the stevedore gangs to adopt a shift system to bring their hours of work in line with what the law stipulates. But the stevedores say this proposed change will hurt their earnings, since they will be working less hours.

Last week, the Labour Minister of State, Dr. Carla Barnett, intervened successfully to get the two sides to agree to return to the negotiating table. Those talks resume tomorrow, and the the Ministry will have a representative acting as an observer. If the Port and the CWU are able to advance the negotiations, the dispute may be over, but if not, then the Ministry will have to convene a tribunal to settle the disagreement.

In the meantime though, there is uncertainty about the 21-day countdown. When we spoke with Mose Hyde, the President of the CWU, he told us via messages quote, " Our 21-days countdown remains in effect"

We also spoke via telephone with Arturo "Tux" Vasquez, the Port's CEO, and he told us the Union has agreed to make a counter proposal on the hours of work, and as long as they do that, he is prepared to negotiate on all other points of interest for the collective bargaining agreement.