Another eight day strike at Felixstowe Port is on the cards this month, after workers rejected management’s attempt to impose a pay deal.
The second eight day strike, announced by Unite, follows the refusal of Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company to improve its pay offer and its imposition of a 7% pay rise on the workforce.
Unite, which represents 1,900 blue collar workers at the port, said its members voted to reject the imposed pay offer by 82% on a 78% turnout.
The union condemned the pay offer as "a sizeable pay cut", pointing to the current retail Price Index which stands at 12.3%.
As a result of the impasse, fresh strike action has been called. The strikes will run from 07:00 Tuesday 27 September and end on 06:59 on Wednesday 5 October.
This latest round of stikes at Felixstowe will coincide with stikes at Liverpool Port later this month which were announced after workers rejected a 7% pay offer from port operator MDHC last week. Stikes at Liverpool part are planned to run from 19 September to 3 October
The previous eight days of strike action last month brought Felixstowe Port, which is responsible for 48% of the UK’s container goods, to a standstill.
The Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company is owned by the multi-national port operator CK Hutchison, which is registered in the Cayman Islands.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham 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.
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“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 union is arguing that the company is able to pay its workers a fair pay increase, pointing to its accounts for 2021 which reveal that it made record profits of £79m. The latest accounts of CK Hutchison, reveal that it had a turnover of £30bn.
Bobby Morton, Unite national officer for docks, 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.”
The port's management said on its website: "We are very disappointed that Unite has announced this further strike action at this time. The collective bargaining process has been exhausted and there is no prospect of agreement being reached with the union.
"The port is in the process of implementing the 2022 pay award of 7% plus £500 which is backdated to 1 January 2022."
