 |
| Some of those striking were at the picket line early on Sunday morning |
SUFFOLK (UK), Aug 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Dock workers at the UK’s largest container port have gone on strike for the first time in 30 years.
About 1,900 members of the Unite union at Felixstowe in Suffolk are walking out for eight days in a dispute over pay.
Unite said members rejected a 7% pay offer from the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company, which it said was below the rate of inflation.
A port spokesman said the strike was “disappointing”.
A picket line formed early on Sunday as the strike began, and the union said it would be manned until 22:00 on each day of the walkout.
Miles Hubbard, from Unite’s regional office, said: “Very few people reported for work this morning.
“The picket line has been in place since 6am and we’re getting great support from the public.”
About 2,550 people work at the Port of Felixstowe – the country’s busiest port, handling about 48% of the UK’s container trade. Striking workers include crane drivers, machine operators and stevedores who load and unload ships.
Port spokesman Paul Davey said the average pay for workers at Felixstowe was £43,000, and employees had been offered a 7% rise plus a single payment of £500.
He said the offer represented an increase of between 8.1% and 9.6%, depending upon the category of worker at the port, at a time when the average pay increase in the country was 5%.
“We’ve got a shrinking economy, we’re going into recession… I think that’s a very fair offer indeed,” he said.
Some businesses have expressed concern about the action.
Adam Searle, managing director of haulage firm CP Transport, said if his firm did not move any containers this week it could stand to lose £60,000-£70,000.
He said: “Throughout Suffolk the bill could run into the millions and throughout the country a lot more.
Explaining the reasons for the action, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Felixstowe docks is enormously profitable.”
Together with its parent company, CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd, they could “give Felixstowe workers a decent pay raise”, she said.
“It’s clear both companies have prioritised delivering multi-million pound profits and dividends rather than paying their workers a decent wage.”
Robert Morton, Unite national officer, said: “The people in Felixstowe aren’t particularly militant and that’s been shown by the fact there hasn’t been a dispute for 30 years. But people are angry now a company who made £240m over the last two years are unwilling to share it with them.”
Meanwhile, the port said its staff union, which represents about 500 clerical and engineering employees, had “voted to accept the same pay offer that Unite has refused to put to its members”.
Unite said it had balloted the dock workers, not the clerical groups represented by the Port of Felixstowe staff union.
Referring to the staff who had accepted the offer, a Unite spokesperson said: “This group of members have the right to accept the offer from the company but Unite’s dockers want to press for 10%.”
Strike action at the port is expected to last until Monday Aug 29. — NNN-AGENCIES
