00:00Hauliers are responsible for delivering containers to and receiving containers
00:04from the various ports whether they're full or empty. President of the
00:09Association of TNT Hauliers Reza Ali explains the impact of the industrial
00:14action by dock workers represented by the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade
00:18Union at a port of Port of Spain. We've had a down of operations every two days
00:25per week for six weeks. This has been going on and the challenges that we have
00:31been facing is that we are unable to deliver the cargo to our clients and to
00:36the nation in a timely fashion and as such now we can no longer continue to
00:42operate under these circumstances. On November 18th Hauliers withheld sending
00:48equipment to the port as operations across all areas were impacted. ATTH
00:54vice-president Apollo Arjun tells us that they are in communication with the
00:58port but the fluidity of the situation is another element which has forced them
01:03to react. One we do not know if the port is being opened and the extent of the
01:08port is being opened. It is not profitable. Now we have investments made
01:14in terms of equipment, our installments remain the same, bank interests remain
01:20the same and we have a responsibility our workers to provide at least five
01:23days of work. We are coming to a point where we cannot guarantee this. They tell
01:28us the Hauliers pull about two to three containers daily as this is what can be
01:33usually accommodated by the port. In peak seasons like Christmas this can increase
01:39to around four to five containers per day. The percentage of the lack of
01:44productivity I would say would be around say 40 percent. We have lost 40 percent
01:48of our capacity losing two days of operational work. And the Association
01:53says it also has ramifications for the country and importers from the region
01:58including not having essential items on the shelves like pharmaceuticals and
02:03food as well as security apparatus etc. Customers are paying excessive
02:10damage, they are paying excessive port rents and it is going to be felt on the
02:14shelf or lack thereof of goods on the shelf. It is very critical, it has
02:21reached a critical point where we have to have this matter resolved. There are
02:25different agencies that can put pressure to expedite this. The ATTH says while
02:31there have been unrests in the past this one has been prolonged. TV6's interview
02:37with the Hauliers Association was conducted prior to the granting of an
02:41injunction to the Port Authority by the Industrial Court on Tuesday requiring
02:46dock workers to return to duty. Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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