Latest news on harbour dispute

26 April 2007

Harbours dispute

The States has agreed to work with the Transport and General Workers Union to find a solution to the dispute at Jersey’s harbour which led to a one day strike last week. The Union has committed to resolve the problem in the next four weeks.

Assistant minister Deputy Ian Gorst said: ‘Given the Union’s stated commitment to resolve the problems within four weeks through a Joint Working Party, with an undertaking that there will be no further industrial action in that time, we have willingly agreed to participate. To this end, the notice of time in which the employees will be required to move to their new workshops has been extended by four weeks.’

Deputy Gorst said: ‘The employer remains entirely committed to the position that the ex-harbours employees must move to the new locations – we are not withdrawing from that position. We remain very disappointed about the recent unilateral and damaging industrial action, taken by these men, in which they were attempting to hold the Island to ransom.’