Fresh eight-day strike announced at Felixstowe port may cause fresh disruption to UK supply chains as retailers try to stock up on goods ahead of Christmas.
A new eight-day strike has been announced at the UK’s largest container port, Felixstowe, as a pay dispute deepens. The Unite union have announced that the strike will begin on Sept 27 and will run until Oct 5.
Unite says workers have “overwhelmingly rejected” management’s attempt to impose a pay deal worth seven percent which is a real terms pay cut.Felixstowe handles almost half the container freight which enters the UK, with around 17 different shipping lines operating to and from 700 ports.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said, “Felixstowe and CK Hutchison [the port’s owner] are both eye-wateringly wealthy but rather than offer a fair pay offer, they have instead attempted to impose a real terms pay cut on their workers.
“Since the beginning of this dispute Unite has given its total support to its members at Felixstowe and that will continue until this dispute is resolved.”
The port of Felixstowe has confirmed it has received notice from Unite that further strike action will take place from Sept 27 to Oct 5. A notice on its website states the port is implementing a seven percent pay rise and a £500 payment.
Felixstowe’s workers are not the only ones striking in a wage dispute.
More than 560 dockworkers at the Port of Liverpool, one of the country’s largest container docks, are set to go on strike for two weeks from Sept 20 after rejecting a pay offer.That walkout will overlap with the new strike in Felixstowe, which starts the following week.
The strike will follow a similar eight-day walkout at Felixstowe in eastern England last month, which clogged supply lines but fell short of causing widespread disruption in an industry already facing supply chain issues.
Brian McLister