TRANSFORMING THE CARIBBEAN PORT SERVICES INDUSTRY: TOWARDS THE EFFICIENCY FRONTIER - PAGE 45
Figure 2-20 Efficiency Spectrum Labour Guyana Belize
Antigua
Trinidad & Tobago
Grenada
St. Lucia
Barbados
Bahamas
St. Kitts
St. Vincent Suriname
GROUP 1
GROUP 2
GROUP 3
2.4.4 LABOUR Three groups have been identified with regard to port performance bottlenecks resulting from labour issues. These three groups exhibit the following bottlenecks: • Group 1: countries in group 1 suffer from: (i) outdated labour practices (such as a gang per vessel system, instead of a shift system), resulting in inefficient and dangerous working conditions; and (ii) strong labour unions, leading to severe difficulties in negotiating improved labour conditions.
• Group 2: countries in group 2 have some outdated labour agreements, but are making progress in negotiations towards improved labour conditions. • Group 3: countries in group 3 have minor to no issues regarding labour conditions and agreements.