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BIU: Management issues compound dockworkers' dispute

Union boss Chris Furbert has hit out at managers at Hamilton docks for “not co-operating with us” and not keeping the area clean enough.The Bermuda Industrial Union president told a press conference today that he “wanted to open Pandora's Box” and “really talk about management”.Mr Furbert accused managers as well as dockworkers of having “non-productive time” and also raised the issue of the “uncleanliness of the docks”.Nearly 40 dockworkers have been refusing to work overtime for two weeks because of an ongoing union row with Stevedoring Services over how to eradicate their “non-productive time” due to the reduction in cargo volume.Mr Furbert said: “Some of the managers have non-productive time, we need to address this right across the board.“The public need to be given a clear picture. Let's be clear here we need to be comparing apples to apples and not apples to oranges.”James Douglas, vice president of the Port Workers' Union, then explained how the docks were “rarely cleaned” compared to three years ago when they were cleaned daily.He said: “The dust and carbon flies into the air.“If I take a white cloth and wipe my brow, it's totally black”.Mr Furbert said the reason he had called another press conference, just 24 hours after the last one, was to question why the print media hadn't reported exactly what he had said.He said The Royal Gazette and Bermuda Sun had omitted to mention the same three points, adding that “fair reporting” was needed.He told members of the media: “If you don't print what the BIU is saying, I will not have you here at press conferences in the future”.