Following a long-simmering labour dispute, unionised dock workers and Stevedoring Services are to join forces on a retroactive collective bargaining agreement.In a joint statement issued yesterday, both the company and the port worker division of the Bermuda Industrial Union announced they were ready to draft an agreement to cover 2011 to 2013.The two parties also intend to establish “a strong and stable environment” for future agreements, the statement added.Both sides thanked the arbitration tribunal for helping them reach an agreement, although specifics of the deal have yet to be released.The dispute went into its latest round of arbitration in January — after 16 months of talks, punctuated by intermittent strife at the docks.The disagreement first came to a head in August, 2011 when unionised dock workers turned down the port operations company’s request for shorter working weeks.Once negotiations collapsed, workers refused to offload ships outside their regular 37.5-hour weeks.At issue was the drop in cargo activity at the Island’s docks, resulting in what Stevedoring Services called “non-productive time”.The company asked workers to accept three- and four-day weeks, depending on the number of vessels servicing the Island.After a three-week ban on overtime, the two sides agreed to their first arbitration.But the dispute flared again in December, 2012, after talks stalled — forcing Government to impose an injunction preventing either side from taking further action.Last night, Home Affairs Minister Michael Fahy said he was “pleased and satisfied that a determination has been made”.The Ministry, he added, was “hopeful that this will pave the way for a fruitful relationship between both sides”.