a Supreme Court judge ruled dockworkers had breached an injunction by imposing an illegal overtime ban.

Stevedoring Services can now claim punitive damages from the union and theoretically BIU leaders could be jailed for breaching the overtime injunction.

The union saw the dispute as a test case because it believed the employers were trying to force workers to do overtime.

BIU President Derrick Burgess said last month: "There is nowhere in the world where anyone can force you to do overtime. If it does come to that it will be very barbaric.'' But Stevedoring Services lawyer Alan Dunch argued that the company was not forcing workers to do overtime against their will, but was trying to establish that the union had broken the law.

During a three day hearing last month, he told Supreme Court Judge Vincent Meerabux that the union was holding the country to ransom and trying to bully management by withdrawing labour every time there was a dispute at the docks in Hamilton.

The company issued a writ stating a union overtime ban in February was in breach on a previous injunction.

Mr. Dunch said that between December 24, 1998 and January 31, this year, Stevedoring Services' operations were disrupted by refusals to work, sick-outs, failures to meet overtime requests, strikes, overtime bans, and work stoppages.

The February dispute was a breach of the collective agreement because the union had not specified how long the overtime ban was to last.

The BIU's lawyer Delroy Duncan said part of the collective bargaining agreement said overtime "may'' be worked. He argued that the word "may'' is not mandatory.

He also said there were three clauses in the agreement which allowed workers to turn down overturn.

But Judge Meerabux has struck a blow to the union by backing the employers' argument that the BIU was in breach of the injunction.

Mr. Burgess refused to comment last night but said the union would be holding a press conference next week.

Mr. Dunch was off the Island last night and could not be contacted for comment.

UNIONS UNS