2015 February: As negotiations continue for the privatising of the Kingston Container Terminal (KCT), Jamaica’s largest, the company has made a public statement to reassure employees. The company said it was confident that appropriate disclosures will be made in a manner and at a time that does not prejudice the outcome of the negotiations and appealed for patience. There was no sign that the company’s reassurances calmed the employees who are anticipating massive layoffs and redundancies once the terms of the negotiations are disclosed.
Last October, the Jamaican government announced commencement of talks with Terminal Link Consortium, which consists of Terminal Link, CMA CGM, and China Merchant Holdings International.
The workers fear that repair and maintenance have lapsed at the terminal and link this to the uncertainty surround the negotiations. However, the company countered, that over the period 2010 to 2014 it recorded an increase in productivity of more than 18%. It said the 28.59 mph (average crane moves per hour) achieved in 2014 was the highest ever achieved and that the second highest,26.88 mph, was achieved the previous year, in 2013.
A local newspaper [The Observer] had reported that a most of the terminals workforce (under near 1,000 workers) were fearful and uncertain about their future. The staff mood was described as “.. nervous, uncertain, jaded, just totally bewildered.” []
