Union explains roots of dispute

FRIDAY, AUGUST 12: The decision by dockworkers to stop overtime work comes after negotiations between the union and their employers broke down.

The overtime ban came into force on Wednesday and will remain indefinitely, according to Bermuda Industrial Union boss Chris Furbert.

It means the Stevedore employees who unload the containers and help secure the ships coming into Hamilton will work between 8am until 12pm.

They will then take an hour lunch break and continue working until 4:30pm.

‘Non-productive time’

The dispute first arose after dockworkers were asked to come in just three or four days a week, depending on how busy the dock was.

The purpose of the change was to reduce “non-productive time” where workers had nothing to do while the dock was empty.

This has been brought on by a significant fall in the number of containers coming into Bermuda over the last two years.

But the workers rejected Stevedoring Services’ offer.

Stevedoring Services then put forward the idea of layoffs, where workers are given a week layoff from work.

But this was rejected too and last Friday the BIU gave the company five days notice of its plan to impose a overtime ban.

Mr Furbert says the overtime ban is all about workers’ retaining their regular working hours and getting a steady income.

Cargo volume

And, at a press conference yesterday, he claimed Stevedoring Services had behaved “pretty poorly” during negotiations.

Peter Aldrich, CEO of Stevedoring Services, says that need to change hours of work is down to a significant reduction in cargo volume.

He added: “We remain committed to our staff and the importing public as we all try to walk an economic tight rope of providing stable employment and the financial stability that provides that employment.

“We do support the negotiation process and are still hopeful that we can resolve these differences without any protracted inconvenience to the importing community.”