Importers weigh in on docks action before union talks
A group of wholesalers, importers and shippers has warned that a ban on overtime for dock-workers at the port of Hamilton is driving up prices for Bermudian families.
The collective, which released an anonymous statement, claimed that asking the public to absorb higher prices to “maintain leverage against an employer in a personal dispute” was unfair.
Randy Rochester, the chief executive of Polaris Holding Company, which runs dock operator Stevedoring Services Ltd, confirmed to The Royal Gazette that there was no backlog of containers at the facility — but said the company “fully empathises with the wholesalers”.
He said SSL was “not pleased” to have the overtime ban in place because “the only ones who suffer at the end of the day are the customers, as we have been stating from day one”.
The remarks came after Dawud Tucker, the president of the Bermuda Industrial Union’s port workers division, called for community support over the group’s decision to ban overtime at the docks.
On Wednesday, the BIU urged management to rejoin talks on reinstating a worker who a tribunal ruled in 2024 had been unfairly dismissed.
Chris Furbert, the union’s president, acknowledged that the dispute concerned his son, Chris Furbert Jr, who was summarily dismissed from Stevedoring Services Ltd in 2020, after a conflict with management.
The Gazette was told that four businesses agreed to release the statement from “multiple wholesalers, importers and shippers”.
“Lowering Bermuda’s cost of living demands united action — not the leverage of the entire country by one dismissed employee and his union-leader father,” the group said.
“Five years on, their personal grievances should not be allowed to gamble with the country’s food security, erode nutrition or push every family’s bills higher each month.”
At a media conference on Wednesday, Mr Tucker described the ban as the only recourse available to the union, as port staff are deemed essential workers under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 2021.
He added: “We’ve got to this point, we are still not being heard by the employer and we are asking the public to support us so that we can get the employer to come to the table.”
Mr Tucker said then that port staff would meet today to discuss the matter.
He insisted: “This is not something we intended to put the public through. This is our only voice, the only card we can play when it comes to industrial action, and that’s the suspension of overtime.
“We’re always open to the public’s best interests. We do not want to go through this, so we try to minimise the impact by a ban on overtime to get the attention of the employer.”
The group of wholesalers, importers and shippers said: “That framing ignores who is actually paying the bill.
“Overtime bans do not raise dock-workers’ pay, they raise Bermuda’s cost of living. Households pay more for groceries and essentials, and businesses shoulder spoilage, emergency logistics and demurrage.
“That is not solidarity — it is cost-shifting onto 55,000 people.
“The issue here is not labour, it is conduct. You can support workers and still reject a tactic that treats an essential service as leverage for a single, long-running employment dispute.
“In light of the Government's call for all sectors to help lower the cost of living, it is difficult to square the union’s decision to maintain the overtime ban with those shared goals.
“Shippers are working to move more product, faster, at lower cost. The union’s tactic manufactures delay and raise prices for all families.”
The collective called for a six-week suspension of the overtime ban to “stabilise supply”, adding: “The public’s message is simple: keep the food moving and take the dispute to talks or arbitration. An overtime ban does not increase worker pay; it suppresses it.”
Randy Rochester, the chief executive of Polaris Holding Company, which runs dock operator Stevedoring Services Ltd, said today: “SSL fully empathises with the wholesalers as we also are not pleased that the overtime ban remains in place, as the only ones who suffer at the end of the day are the customers as we have been stating from day one.
“We will continue working with the shipping agents to discharge their goods in a timely manner as has been the case over the past few months despite the industrial action or equipment challenges that occurred in late June.”
He highlighted that refrigerated containers — reefers — were treated as priority and were discharged first from ships and usually collected by wholesalers the same day.
Mr Rochester added: “Reefers do not remain on the docks for more than 48 hours and even if this should be the case, they are plugged in at the reefer bank to ensure the temperature is controlled so goods are not spoilt.
“SSL has a very good working relationship with its stakeholders and always remains open to a quick phone call or e-mail should a wholesaler believe there is a delay with receiving their products.”
On the suggestion of a six-week suspension of the overtime ban, so that supply may be stabilised, he said: “If the decision was SSL’s, it would be business as usual today.
“However, it was the BIU that implemented the six-month overtime ban, so it is really up to them to do what’s in the best interest of the country while this matter is before the courts.”
The collective of wholesalers, importers and shippers claimed that the docks operator should publish weekly metrics so that the public can monitor changes in service.
Mr Rochester responded: “SSL maintains data on just about all facets of the operation.
“Each Monday morning relevant data is e-mailed to industry partners which outlines how efficient SSL was the week prior.
“If there are any issues such as equipment failures etc, SSL notifies stakeholders in advance so all are aware.”
It said that the industrial action lacked full support among dock-workers, which they said implied that “internal union politics” played a role because the matter involved the union leader’s son.
The group said that residents “deserve confidence that choices affecting the national lifeline are being made in the wider public interest, not through the prism of family ties”.
The BIU president was open in “declaring my interests” this week when he acknowledged that his son was at the centre of the dispute.
At that time, Mr Furbert said: “If it was any other worker than Chris Furbert Junior, would the decision be the same?”
He added: “It’s got to be personal.”
The BIU and the Government have been contacted today for comment.
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