Dockworkers will stop working overtime next Tuesday in an action that looks set to delay the offloading of fresh produce and other perishable goods in the weeks leading up to Christmas.The Bermuda Industrial Union served notice of the overtime ban yesterday, saying it was in response to the company’s notice of layoffs set to go into effect on December 12.BIU President Chris Furbert, accompanied by three union executives, met briefly with the management of Stevedoring Services yesterday.When contacted by this newspaper, CEO and general manager of Stevedoring Services Ltd Peter Aldrich confirmed the notice was issued for an “indefinite period of time”.“This action follows months of talks between Stevedoring Services and the BIU in a genuine attempt to resolve outstanding issues,” said Mr Aldrich. “Unfortunately no satisfactory solution has been agreed by both parties at this time.“While the suspension of overtime is outside of our control, we wish to assure the public that Stevedoring Services will do everything it can to minimise any disruption and or delays resulting from this action.”That sentiment was not echoed by others in the shipping industry or by local food distributors. The Vice President of Marine Operations at Meyer Agencies, Joe Simas was apprehensive.“The majority of goods like Christmas trees, turkeys and toys are already here, but things like fresh produce and the importation of food will be affected. The week before Christmas is normally a slow week in the shipping industry but I think grocery stores will feel the impact most,” he said.A spokesman for the MarketPlace noted that imports have yet to return to a regular schedule in the wake of Hurricane Sandy in November.“Shipping schedules were either delayed for two weeks or cancelled, leaving a backlog of goods that are now just arriving,” he said.“The weeks beginning on December 10 and December 17 are usually set aside for fresh-perishable products, however late shipping dry goods will still be arriving. As annually at this time with only one New Jersey ship per week starting on December 23, the next two weeks are critical for perishables with large volumes arriving.”Meanwhile, Mr Furbert maintained that “in the absence of a guaranteed work week, royalties needs to be put back on the table, not layoffs as proposed by Stevedoring Services”.The ongoing dispute over “non-productive time on the docks” was sent back to arbitration by Economy Minister Patrice Minors.“Arbitration or not, this overtime ban will go into effect next week and overtime is not mandatory. The company has no intention of activating the redundancy clause, they just hired at least three people; so redundancies are a non-issue,” said Mr Furbert.Moving forward, he said: “When the ban goes into effect next week, offloading of ships will cease after 5pm. The workers will return to work the following day but there will be no overtime on the docks leading up to Christmas.”