Port: Crucial Meeting Face Showdown Management-Worker

Negotiations between the employees of the Cargo Handling Corporation and their employer have stumbled over obstacles at the meeting yesterday. So, it's Monday that "important decisions will be taken," announces the direction of the Port Louis Maritime Employees Association (PLMEA).

The management of the corporation suggested at the meeting with representatives of the workers, the report Salary Restructuring Committee (SRC) will be published in June. The proposal was immediately rejected.

The union leaders call a "agreement" before 31 May, the date of expiry of the deadline for an agreement on the dispute declared to the Commission Conciliation and Mediation (CCM) in January. The union planned to take legal action after this date. They believe that management "has demonstrated a lack of respect for the 1,100 employees who are members of the PLMEA, ignoring the principles of statutory collective bargaining."

According to our information, the association refuses to set a timetable for the work of the CBC report, chaired by the Director of the Pay Research Bureau,

Beejaye Coomar Apanna. They maintain their claims subject to the procedures of collective bargaining. Another meeting of the SRC is scheduled for early next week. Even if they will be present, unionists say it is not their priority.