Stevedores’ Warning to Belize: “We Do Not Want to Pull the Plug

Four months after the collapse of arbitration between the Port of Belize and its stevedores, negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement remain at a standstill, despite government promises to return to the table.

The Essential Services Arbitration Tribunal ended in March after the Christian Workers Union refused to sign a revised confidentiality agreement, bringing more than a year of proceedings to an abrupt close. Since then, the Port of Belize has come under government control, but stevedores say they have yet to be invited to negotiate.

Chief Union Representative Bruce Diaz said workers have exercised restraint but warned that continued delays could have consequences far beyond the port.

“We need to get this CBA signed. The stevedores work night and day in the rain while the big executives and all the directors and everybody in their bed sleeping, we are working in the rain,” he said. “We make the economy of Belize flow. If the Port of Belize is not functioning, the noodles and the chicken sausage and what they are talking about will not come to the community. The prices will be raised. ”

Diaz added, “Because you know when the stevedores pull the plug, the Belizean people feel… we do not want to pull the plug. So we are bearing patience.”

The Government promised a seat at the table. Four months later, the stevedores say they continue to wait for the government to make good on its promise to negotiate before patience runs out.