UK dock workers' union threatens further strikes

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
22 Aug 2022 15:54

A trade union warns of future strikes at the UK's largest container port if pay demands are not satisfied.

UK dock workers' union threatens further strikes.

A trade union warned on Monday of future strikes at the UK's largest container port if pay demands are not satisfied, threatening to disrupt the supply chain further.

Workers at the Felixstowe port in southeastern England launched an eight-day strike over salaries on Sunday, in the latest industrial action as decades-high inflation intensifies in the country's cost-of-living crisis.

They claim that the wage offer they got does not keep up with inflation, which has risen above 10% and involves a one-time lump sum payment.

"If we don't achieve what we're trying to achieve, there will be more strikes," Robert Morton, national officer for the Unite union, told Sky News.

"We've been asking for a minimum of the rate of inflation," Morton said. Nearly 2,000 unionized employees at the port in eastern England, including crane drivers, machine operators, and stevedores, are involved in the first strike at Felixstowe since 1989.

It comes amid a wave of strikes over salary and working conditions across the UK, with railway workers the most recent to go on strike on Thursday and Saturday this week.

The walkout follows Covid and post-Brexit workforce constraints that have already impacted the UK supply chain. Morton acknowledged that additional strikes at Felixstowe would mean "the supply chain will be severely disrupted" while saying the strike will end as soon as the port agrees to meet for negotiations.

The Port of Felixstowe said in a statement Friday that it was "disappointed" the walkout had gone ahead and called its offer of salary increases of on average eight percent "fair". It said it "regrets the impact this action will have on UK supply chains".

UK postal workers on strike

Two weeks ago, Royal Mail workers voted to begin a four-day strike to protest against low salaries, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) representing the interests of employees said. 97.6% have voted to go on strike, the Union said.

The workers are striking against low paid wages amid the rising inflation, whereas the CEO is paid £750,000 a year and took a £140,000 bonus a few weeks ago and shareholders received dividends worth £400 million.

After failed attempts of negotiating an offer that involved a 5.5% pay increase, the CWU tweeted that the Royal Mail is lying about their pay "offer".

This comes in light of a falling British economy, as a result of the energy crisis.

A research note published by Christopher Dembik, head of macro analysis at Saxo Bank, showed that the UK is "more and more looking like an emerging market country," according to a CNBC report. The expert cited a number of key signs as causes for this decline in the economy, including political unrest, trade interruptions, an energy crisis, and sharply rising inflation.

Dembik said that “What Brexit has not done by itself, Brexit coupled with Covid and high inflation have succeeded in doing,” adding that “The UK economy is crushed.”