Some 1,900 members of the Unite union, including crane trees, machine operators and dockers have stopped work to ask for revaluations of their pay, in the midst of the cost of living.
Le Monde with AFP
After three consecutive days of strikes having disrupted transport, in particular the rail, it is the turn of the port of Felixstowe to be affected. A strike scheduled to last eight days started on Sunday August 21 in the largest freight port in the United Kingdom, the last episode of a series of demands affecting many sectors to ask for better wages in front of record inflation.
This is the first strike since 1989 for this port located in eastern England, which deals about four million containers per year. Some 1,900 members of the Unite Union, including crane operators, machine operators and dockers have stopped work to ask for revaluations of their pay, in the midst of the cost of living in the United Kingdom. Inflation reached in July 10.1 % over a year and could exceed 13 % in October, the highest level of a G7 country. 2> “99 million pounds sterling distributed to shareholders ”
“The Felixstowe docks are extremely profitable. The latest figures show that in 2020, they achieved 61 million pounds sterling (almost 72 million euros) of profits,” said Unite Secretary General, Sharon Graham. “Her parent company, CK Hutchison Holding Ltd, is so rich that, in the same year, she distributed 99 million pounds Sterling (116 million euros) to her shareholders. So they can give Felixstowe workers a salary increase correct, “she put forward.
For his part, the officials of the port of Felixstowe said “disappointed that Unite did not accept our offer to cancel the strike and come to the table for constructive discussions in order to find a solution”. The company said it has proposed a salary increase which seems “fair” to it on average on average and close to 10 % for the least well paid employees.
The port “regrets the impact that this action will have on the British supply chains” and claims to work with its customers to “limit disturbances”.
A port source, however, told the news agency PA that strikes would be a “drawback and not a disaster”, saying that the supply chain was used to the disturbances from the pandemic.