St. Kitts Shipping Association questions stevedore proposals
Officials from the St. Kitts Shipping Association are questioning the viability of a proposal from stevedores that would base the pay of longshore workers on the volume of cargo handled.
The Stevedoring Association of St. Kitts has proposed a shift from hourly wages for stevedores to pay based on cargo volumes, leading to a stevedore strike that started Nov. 2.
According to a report in the St. Kitts newspaper The Democrat, shipping association officials believe there is no justification for switching to a volume-based pay plan.
'We live in a day when stevedores are not doing heavy lifting,' said shipping association President Donald Kelsick. 'Therefore, there is no connection to what the human is doing and the weight.'
