Port workers return to jobs

Dock workers returned to their jobs Monday afternoon, ending a strike that had crippled the Port of Spain docks and left thousands of containers waiting to be cleared.

Businesses were worried about the additional cost they incurred, amount to nearly $4 million a day for the uncleared containers.

President of the Seamen and Waterfront Workers’ Trade Union (SWWTU) Michael Annisette said he encouraged the workers to resume duties. However he noted that it took protest action to get the attention of Port Authority officials.

Annisette told reporters since October he had warned management in writing of the urgent need to address the issue of outstanding negotiations since dockworkers were growing uneasy.

He added, 'I am happy to report that having had a brutally frank meeting with the workers and representatives at the port, they have agreed, based on my advice, to return to work..." 

Hundreds of workers downed tools last Friday to protest the authority’s failure to discuss a new collective agreement, which expired more than three years ago.