Workers at two of Britain’s biggest ports are to stage walkouts later this month, as union chiefs intensify their campaign for thousands of members to receive double-digit pay rises.
Unite has announced a fresh round of eight days of industrial action at Felixstowe, the country’s biggest container port, from Sept 27.
Meanwhile, port workers and engineering staff at the Port of Liverpool have rejected a 7pc pay rise and are expected to walk out for two weeks from Sept 20.
Union chiefs attacked the “wealthy owners” of the two ports, insisting that any wage increase less than 12.3pc – the latest increase in the retail prices index, the UK’s unofficial inflation rate – would be tantamount to a pay cut.
Sharon Graham, Unite’s general secretary, said: “Felixstowe and CK Hutchison 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.”
CK Hutchison is owned by Hong Kong’s richest person, Li Ka-shing. The Port of Liverpool’s biggest shareholder is John Whittaker, the billionaire property tycoon that built Manchester’s Trafford Centre.
Unite national officer for docks Bobby Morton said: “The latest strike action is entirely of Felixstowe’s own making. Rather than seeking to negotiate a deal to resolve the dispute, the company instead tried to impose a pay deal.
“Further strike action will inevitably lead to delays and disruption to the UK’s supply chain but this is entirely of the company’s own making.”
In a statement on Hutchison’s website, the company said “the collective bargaining process has been exhausted and there is no prospect of agreement being reached with the union.”
Around 2,000 members of staff at Felixstowe walked out in August for eight days after rejecting a 7pc pay rise. The shutdown forced liners to reroute to different ports.
A fresh wave of industrial action now threatens to disrupt already fragile supply chains as retailers ramp up for the key Christmas period.
Peel Ports, the owner of the Port of Liverpool, has urged union leaders to keep negotiating despite seeing a 7pc pay increase plus £750 one-off bonus rejected.
Any closure of the Liverpool port would be felt “for many months to come, at a time when container volume demand has started to reduce,” Peel said.
Source: Telegraph.co.uk
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