Workers at the port of Felixstowe will go on another strike after the failure in negotiations between the British trade union Unite and CK Hutchison-owned Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company, the port owner.
Unite said that last week the management at the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company ended pay talks after refusing to improve its pay offer and instead announced that it was imposing a pay deal of 7% on the workforce.
“The imposed pay deal is in reality a sizeable pay cut with the current real inflation rate (RPI) standing at 12.3%,” the union said.
In response, Unite, which represents 1,900 workers at the United Kingdom’s major container port, surveyed its members, who decided to reject the imposed pay offer by 82% on a 78% turnout.
As a result, fresh strike action for eight days has been called from 07:00 hours on Tuesday 27 September and ending at 06:59 hours on Wednesday 5 October.
The previous strike action lasted from 21 to 29 October.
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.”
He went on to add, “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.”
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.