Night-shift in mystery dispute with port bosses

| 07/01/2019 | 28 Comments
Cayman News Service

Night-shift at the Cayman Islands port

(CNS): Minutes from the Port Authority board meetings have revealed that management appears to be in some kind of dispute with night-shift workers at the cargo dock, though they contain no details. According to a batch of four recently released minutes covering meetings between 29 September and 29 November, some sort of claim has been made by the night workers which is involving lawyers. A set of minutes appears to be missing for a meeting that took place between 15 and 29 November, and it’s not clear whether or not the mysterious matter was addressed then. 

The minutes of board meetings from many government departments are often lacking in detail. While references are made to ongoing issues, from rent arrears to audits, the documents rarely give anything more than passing reference to most issues.

However, the port is one of a number of government entities that has been plagued with staffing problems, especially management issues. The director was recently fired under a cloud of scandal, while four managers that he had hired were also let go recently. Meanwhile, although the port has been cleared to recruit 20 new employees, according to the minutes only ten have been employed so far.

The minutes did reveal that the board voted to approve a new policy of only allowing two cruise ships at a time to anchor at Spotts. The minutes also show that the port is seeking a cost of living allowance for its workers in line with the COLA recently given to the civil service, and that many of the vehicles and pieces equipment used at the port have reached the end of their expected operating life. The authority is therefore seeking an exemption of the dividend it would be expected to pay to the Treasury.

The minutes also show that the chief financial officer remains on sick leave until the end of January.

See the minutes for all PACI Board meetings here

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Category: Government Administration, Politics

Comments (28)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Screw you! I have no obligation to tell at all! Are you going to feed my family when I have to leave my job for exposing the Lodge corruption in Government?

    Where’s the “soon-come” whistle-blower protections statute?

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  2. Anonymous says:

    Years ago we heard of the big chiefs there denting cans of stuff, and bursting bags of stuff so that they could take them home.

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  3. Anonymous says:

    False none have been hired that’s another lie

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  4. Anonymous says:

    I hear that there’s a special “fridge” at the Port for thirsty workers. In particular the night crew. “Fridge benefits.”

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  5. Anonymous says:

    I wear my sunglasses at night.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    Caymanization working well.

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  7. Anonymous says:

    Simple solution to this kind of nonsense – privatize it all and put them on zero hours contracts. That way they have to work to get paid. This is what’s wrong with the public sector.

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  8. Sinical says:

    I would love to see a list of all the “”chiefs” and “deputy chiefs” in the Civil Service and Govt agencies, I’m sure it would astound the taxpayer. It has been a custom during any pay freeze to circumvent the restrictions by the simple expedient of creating a new position with a higher pay grade.As for performance appraisal reports introduced decades after the private sector, has anyone ever been downgraded?.

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  9. John says:

    Dividend. Is the port authority not acting under the authority of government?. And are all staff not civil servants!. Dividends sounds like profit sharing. ??????

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  10. Anonymous says:

    Who is the acting CFO, or have they just decided to leave that “meaningless” officer post vacant?

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    • Anonymous says:

      You mean the dude from west who knows nothing and absolutely nothing or is it someone else.

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  11. Anonymous says:

    Same problem with Port and Dump. Tail wagging the Dog.

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  12. Anonymous says:

    Why are employees of the various authorities not employed on private sector type contracts? Would that not make remuneration, bonuses, hiring (and yes, firing) much more efficient and easier?

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    • Anonymous says:

      They are employed on private sector type contracts.

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      • Anonymous says:

        2:40 But they’re not governed by typical private sector terms of employment or management standards. If they were very few of them would have lasted a week.

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        • Anonymous says:

          They are governed by typical private sector terms of employment. The problem is the management standards. The terms aren’t enforced because the managers are also mediocre and too forgiving. But in any case, this dispute doesn’t involve something the employees did wrong.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Well the contracts are typical, the problem is with the management standards. The contracts aren’t enforced the way they would be in the private sector.

  13. Anonymous says:

    Back in the mid 1990s I served as Secretary to one of the statutory authority Boards, serving under two different Chairmen. On many occasions I was directed by the Chairmen not to record certain crucial matters which transpired in the meetings. Further, there were occasions when some of the details I recorded were removed before the Minutes were approved.

    I would bet my month’s pay that is still happening very liberally on existing SAGC Boards!

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