A view shows stacked containers at the port of Felixstowe, Britain, October 13, 2021. Image taken with a drone. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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LONDON, Aug 21 (Reuters) – More than 1,900 workers at Britain’s biggest container port are to begin an eight-day strike on Sunday that their unions and shipping companies warn could severely affect trade and supply chains.
Staff at Felixstowe, on England’s east coast, are taking industrial action in a pay dispute, becoming the latest workers to strike in Britain as unions demand higher pay for members who ‘face a cost of living crisis.
“Strike action will cause massive disruption and send massive shock waves across the UK supply chain, but this dispute is entirely of the company’s own making,” said Unite national docks leader Bobby Morton .
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“This [the company] has had every opportunity to make our members a fair offer, but has chosen not to.”
On Friday, Felixstowe operator Hutchison Ports said it believed its offer of a 7 percent pay rise and a lump sum of 500 pounds ($604) was fair. He said the port workers union, which represents about 500 employees in supervisory, engineering and clerical roles, had accepted the deal.
Unite, which mainly represents dock workers, says the proposal is significantly below the current rate of inflation and followed a below-inflation rise last year.
“The port regrets the impact this action will have on UK supply chains,” a Hutchison Ports spokesman said.
The port said it would have a contingency plan in place and was working to minimize disruption during the departures, which will last until August 29.
Shipping group Maersk ( MAERSKb.CO ), one of the world’s biggest container carriers, has warned the action would have a major impact, causing operational delays and forcing it to make changes to its ship line.
Figures released on August 17 showed UK consumer price inflation rose to 10.1% in July, the highest since February 1982, and some economists forecast it would reach 15% in the first three months into next year amid rising energy and food costs. Read more
The squeeze on household incomes has already led to strikes by rail and bus workers demanding higher pay rises.
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Reporting by Michael Holden
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