Dock Workers Give Notice Of Overtime Ban
Dock workers have served Stevedoring Services with notice of their intention to suspend the working of overtime for “an indefinite period of time”. The ban comes into effect Tuesday December 11th 2012.
Last week BIU President Chris Furbert said that if Stevedoring Services was to institute layoffs, he had been instructed by the workers to institute an overtime ban.
The dispute initially came about due to the issue of ‘non-productive time’ caused by less work being available as the volume of containers has decreased. Stevedoring Services offered to pay the workers 50% of their wage for the hours they were unable to work, which the workers rejected.
“They believe that because their work is gone, its worth a not more to them than 50% the employer is putting on the table,” said BIU President Chris Furbert.
Following a press conference last week Stevedoring Services Ltd CEO Peter L. Aldrich said: “Stevedoring Services employees were today given two weeks’ notice that layoffs will be made by the company, effective December 14, on days where there is no work required.
“The timing is regrettable as we approach the holiday season, however, taking this course of action was unavoidable in order for us to preserve our long-established business.
“As a result of the downturn, island-wide businesses and therefore cargo volumes, have declined so dramatically in recent years that Stevedoring Services’ existing business model cannot be sustained through 2013 and beyond.
“The company has made every effort to reduce operational costs on all fronts, but the challenging economy dictates that further cost-cutting is essential to the company’s survival,” said Mr Aldrich.
Fire them all – enough people out there right now willing to do what they do for much less…babies the lot of them. Its not as if they actually lift anything…and what other employer do you know of that provides as much “sick” time as what these persons get…
The union has RUINED PRIVATE INDUSTRY in Bermuda by the use of what can plainly be described as extortion – inflating wages and leveraging benefits that at best is nonsensical.
I might be missing something here. You all are getting laid off because of lack of work but you turn around & refuse to work overtime when available.
Now how dumb is that??? Do you not have rents to pay, mortgages to pay, car payments to make, groceries to buy, utilities to pay for plus union dues?
Is brother Chris taking a pay cut too?
They DO have rents to pay, mortgages, car payments…..but they are just sheep blindly following Furbit. It makes you wonder if any of them have a brain in their heads? Who blindly follows someone like Furbit when they have mouths to feed at home and bills to pay? Did these dock workers get dropped on their heads as babies? This just doesn’t make any sense whatsoever!
Fire them all for being stupid. I will gladly show up for a part-time job on the docks! That will be a nice supplement to my income. I’m available to start asap!
I don’t know if I’m understanding the story completely. Is it that Stevedoring Services offered to give staff 50% of their salary when workers are not at work to reduce costs and avoid layoffs and workers rejected that? Since they rejected basically getting paid to not work, the company was forced to do layoffs? And now the workers are complaining that there will be layoffs? If that’s the case… then sheesh… they should have taken the 50% when off. On top of that, any worker that doesn’t want over time in a recession and right before the holidays… deserves to be broke.
BEFORE you all start “shooting from the hip”…do some research….check out the Privy Counsels decision a few years ago…..also while you’re at it research the current dispute with dock workers that is currently going on overseas….
On a side note…what you all may NOT KNOW is that all the dock unions stand firm and if they come on board you won’t have to worry about our local guys not unloading containers here because there will be NONE to unload as they would never leave the ports out there…..
Stand Strong for Bermuda Stevedoring Services and fire their damn arses!! Take the KFC route and do not let these IDIOTS bully you and by extension, us, any more. THE PUBLIC IS ON YOUR SIDE S.S.
C. Furbert and his idiot side kicks are overdue for firing and they need to pack up along with their bed mates the PLP on December 17th and TAKE A HIKE!!!
sad…cut yur nose to spite yur face. The world has changed folks. Bermudians are still too slow to connect the dots. The ships are not triple stacked with containers anymore because the demand has dropped due to expats leaving because of burch/brown policies, which were supported by the BIU and closed minded Bermudians…now do you see how we’ve hurt ourselves?
What is the status of the KFC dispute, anyway? Bernews?
There was a time when Unions defended workers from the predatory practices by some companies. It is a new landscape we are living on now. There is less work, less money…and apparently less willingness to compromise. It is basically wrong for a small number of individuals to hold the entire country ransom which seems to happen frequently with BIU leadership guiding our fellow Bermudians working on the docks. Mr. Furbert would gain more for his ’cause’ by compromising on occasion rather than trotting out the same old retoric yet again.
There are a number of experienced folks on the Island who can drive cranes and forklifts and who would probably volunteer to do so in an emergency. Let’s work together folks.
Good comment, the union leadership is stuck in the 1970′s and he needs to step aside and let someone who can talk and act properly and has the good of all of us in mind.
Noticed that the Oleander came in on Monday morning this week and not on Sunday evening (which would generate overtime). Stevedoring Services should work with the ship companies and bring the boats in 8am mornings and not late afternoons or weekends. There should be no reason for overtime if those workers put in a hard days work for a hard days pay.
The Oelander is on the winter schedule now which means no Sunday arrival and yes no double time on Sunday for the workers. As someone who relies on prompt arrival of containers I can see the need for a speedy unloading also the ship only has so much turn around time in Bermuda in order to keep on schedule. As a result some OT maybe required but I guess that depends on the quantity of containers that need to be unloaded. It sounds as though there are definitely less containers to unload and perhaps when there are no ships in port the workers will not get to play cards and watch movies while getting paid full salary.
If Stevendore Services could reschedule the shippers to unload/load between Mon~Fri, 8am ~ 4pm, perhaps there would not be a need for overtime and/or layoffs. I do not have any facts so it is just an idea not the solution.
Stevedoring Services is offering 50% of wages when there is a “non-productive time” lucky them is what I say. The company is trying to keep some money coming into these workers pockets and not lay them off and they refused that, well kiddo they deserve to now get laid off. Isn’t a little better than nothing. at least try and help get thie economy back on it’s feet so all can benefit.
@Former Union Member – good call for us to all work together. You sound like the type of person who would serve better as the President of the Union!
Once again the union wants it all and to give up nothing, even if it means putting it’s members out of work.
Global economics and local policies (and I’m not saying government has created this recession in Bermuda, but many of their policies over the last 14 years have lead to more companies leaving and dowsizing, than has inspired companies to bring new jobs in) have created a state where imports are down to an all time low. And now as the major rush of downsized expat workers is slowing (I won’t say this is the end of it, just that with largst cuts made, it will simply become a stream rather than the river) so too is the exporting.
This means less containers to handle on the docks to the point where there is not enough work for a work week, very simple common sense. So can someone explain to me why the union thinks their members should be paid for doing nothing. The impact this economy is having on Stevedoring business model means have to change it inorder to stay viable. Stevedoring was willing to comprimise and pay them 50% to do nothing, but now they will have to settle for nothing. Is Chris Furbert so anti business that he would put BIU members out of work to try and keep them overpaid. If Stevedoring packs up and leaves, good luck guys with getting a decent contract with whatever company replaces them, that company will only need to look at what went wrong for Stevedoring in order to create a business model and it won’t be anything as nice as what you were offered.
Am I understanding this correctly…they feel no work (sitting at home) is worth more than 50% of their salary…in other words they want to be paid 100% of their salary and sit at home…What is going on in this country…
Time for S. Services to bring on the redundancies, I guess!
Here we go again with the BIU’s autocratic “leader” pushing his retarded weight around to try and bully yet another employer, the union is becoming a dinosaur in this country the same way it has everywhere else, the union is holding companies to random and causing problems, fire anyone who goes out and simply replace them with some of the really good Bermudians who are un or under employed I’m thinking its not highly skilled work for the most part, get rid of the union and allow companies to do business, the wasted time in large companies for union meetings and negotiations is costing a huge amount each year. Was this type of action included in the “agreement” when we bailed there a$$ out of the bond, maybe more attention should be paid on how this union is run, it’s finances and where the members money is lent and who is accountable for it.
To all of the above……Chris has told the workers to take the 50%.. It is the workers that are refusing this…..Chris WORKS for the workers..therefore he has to go by what THEY decide……
THIS IS THE WORKERS DECISION NOT CHRIS’s…………………….