Workers at the port of Felixstowe will begin strike action later this month in a dispute over pay after peace talks at the conciliation service Acas failed to produce a reasonable offer, according to the the Unite's release.
Over 1,900 workers, who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, will begin eight days of strike action on Sunday 21 August ending on Monday 29 August.
Talks at Acas failed to reach a satisfactory conclusion after the employer the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company failed to improve on its offer of a seven per cent pay increase, which is significantly below the real (RPI) inflation rate of 11.8 per cent. Industrial relations were already strained as workers only received a 1.4 per cent, below inflation, increase last year.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Both Felixstowe docks and its parent company CK Hutchison Holding Ltd are both massively profitable and incredibly wealthy. They are fully able to pay the workforce a fair day’s pay.
“The company has prioritised delivering multi-million pound dividends rather than paying its workers a decent wage.
“Unite is entirely focused on enhancing its members’ jobs, pay and conditions and it will be giving the workers at Felixstowe its complete support until this dispute is resolved and a decent pay increase is secured.”
Felixstowe is the UK’s largest container port and 48 per cent of containers brought into the UK are transported via the port.
Strike action will have a big effect on the UK’s supply chain and will also cause severe disruption to international maritime trade, as well as the UK’s supply chain including the logistics and haulage sectors.