Workers at the UK’s largest container port at Felixstowe renewed strike action on Tuesday 27 September in an ongoing dispute over pay, according to Unite union's release.
Over 1,900 members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, began strike action at 07:00 on Tuesday 27 September with the eight day strike ending on 06:59 on Wednesday 5 October.
Strike action is resuming after the company refused to return to negotiations following the initial eight days strike action in August. Instead the company imposed a seven per cent increase on the workforce. This amounted to a real terms pay cut with the real inflation rate (RPI) currently standing at 12.3 per cent.
The workers rejected the imposed pay offer by 82 per cent on 78 per cent turnout.
The beginning of the new strike at Felixstowe coincides with the ongoing strike action at the port of Liverpool. It means that over 60 per cent of the UK’s container port capacity will be affected by industrial action.
The Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company is ultimately owned by the multi-national port operator CK Hutchison, which is registered in the Cayman Islands. The company is fully able to pay its workers a fair pay increase as its accounts for 2021 reveal that it made record profits of £79 million. The latest accounts of CK Hutchison, reveal that it had a turnover of £30 billion.
Unite is the UK and Ireland’s leading union fighting to protect and advance jobs, pay and conditions for members working across all sectors of the economy. The general secretary is Sharon Graham.