Grenada port workers receive hefty back pay

Port workers, who went on strike to press their claims for outstanding wages, have received nearly EC$500,000 (US$185,185) in arrears, Grenada's Port Authority officials have confirmed.

The payout effectively ends industrial action at the country's three main ports and brings relief to local importers who had been complaining of the impact the industrial action was having on their businesses.

The workers have been engaged in various forms of industrial action ranging from go-slows to wild-cat strikes after the Grenada Port Authority (GPA) failed to meet an October 31 deadline to honour the retroactive payments.

"The Port Authority, in its wisdom, is trying to ensure the industrial-relations climate remains without hostility we made the decision to pay out the total sum outstanding on the back pay," said GPA chairman, Nigel John.

The workers were owed EC$379,000 (US$140,370) as part of a final payment of a three-part arbitration settlement awarded in 2007.

The workers bargaining agents, the Technical and Allied Workers Union (TAWU), had threatened to widen industrial action if their demands were not met.

TAWU rejected a request by the GPA to pay the final payment in three instalments.

"Initially given challenges on our cash flow, we had asked that the final tranche be paid in a phase manner. The union did not agree to that," said John.

"The reason why we had asked to have the final tranche paid in a phase manner is to ensure that we did not strain our cash flow. It's one thing to have large sums of money resting there but we have obligations other than to the workers," he added.

In recent months, Port revenues have declined significantly and officials have also expressed concerns about further losses after Taiwan initiated legal proceedings to recover EC$70 million (US$25.9 million) in outstanding loans by having cruise ships pay their fees into a US account pending the outcome of the court action.