Hours after Prime Minister Perry Christie made an impromptu visit to Grand Bahama Saturday to convince Hutchison Port Holdings, the owners of the Freeport Container Port (FCP) to reopen the transshipment hub, they issued a press statement announcing that operations will resume at 8:00 a.m. yesterday.
However less than a full staff complement will be present after the more than one third of staff who walked off their jobs last week after their co-worker, John Rolle, was terminated, have yet to be rehired.
Over 400 employees made up the FCP’s staff complement.
On Saturday container port officials said that as a result of the “illegal work stoppage” there had been a decline in business, as some of the company’s customers decided to do business at other container ports in the region, forcing Freeport Container to cut back on staff.
According to the company’s release, the decision to resume business yesterday, with a less than full staff complement was made in order to meet the urgent demands of its customers who have “suffered significant financial losses and face serious financial setbacks as a result of the illegal work stoppage.”
The release also stated that the container port appreciated the support of those employees who did not engage in the work stoppage.
Permanent closure ‘considered’
On Friday, Hutchison, owners of the largest transshipment hub in the region, indicated through their attorney, Robert Adams, that they were considering shutting down the container port permanently after a large number of employees stayed off the job for three days, protesting the company’s decision to terminate Mr Rolle.
Mr Rolle’s dismissal added fuel to a bitter feud that developed between management and employees of the container port over the past several weeks.
Customer cutback
On June 1 the workers received a letter from FCP Director Godfrey Smith stating that Maersk Sealand, the company’s second largest customer had withdrawn two of its seven ships due to low productivity and had indicated that more could be withdrawn in the near future.
Citing a decrease in revenue, FCP advised its employees that it would review its labour requirements with a view to making necessary staff reductions.
On June 7 the employees, most of whom were off duty, congregated in front of the container port to air their concerns regarding the letter.
Since that time tension was high between management and employees due to the expected layoffs.
The situation rapidly deteriorated last week after employees walked off their jobs in protest last Wednesday after their outspoken leader, Mr Rolle was fired.
The workers felt that he was discharged because he had been bargaining for a union to represent workers, who felt that they were being mistreated.
Container Port officials said that Mr Rolle was fired because he was causing too many problems and creating a distraction.
They urged the employees to get back to work immediately following the work stoppage, but the employees said they would only return if Mr Rolle was reinstated.
After it was announced that the termination decision was final, the employees stayed off the job Thursday and Friday.
During a press briefing on Friday attorney Adams said the work stoppage was illegal and without merit, dismissing reports that the workers were being taken advantage of as false and misleading.
Decision supported by GBPA
Announcing that the Grand Bahama Port Authority supported the FCP decision, president Willie Moss said she was disappointed over the workers’ action as they had no justifiable reason to walk off their jobs.
Minister of Labour and Immigration Vincent Peet attributed his unsuccessful effort to resolve the dispute to the fact that neither side were willing to negotiate.
The Freeport News has been reliably informed that many of the terminated workers will be rehired either as full-time employees or casual workers.
Navardo Saunders, The Nassau Guardian
