Port Of Liverpool Staff Threaten Strike Action
This week saw staff at Felixstowe, the UKs biggest container port walk out for 8 days over pay and conditions. The summer of industrial action looks set to continue with staff at the Port of Liverpool threatening similar walk outs over pay. This follows a comparable offer of a 7% pay deal, which has been deemed inadequate by the Unite union.
The workers are employed at MDHC Container Services, which is part of the Peel Group.
Unite national coordinator Steven Gerrard said: “The responsibility for Liverpool container docks grinding to a halt will lie firmly with MDHC. Our members are struggling with rising living costs, yet MDHC, which is awash with cash, puts forward a completely inadequate offer. It needs to come back with a deal that meets our members expectations.”
Richard Mitchell, Port Director Liverpool Containers at Peel Ports Group, said the offer of 7 per cent is on top of a rise of 4.5 per cent last year and includes other improvements to shifts, sick pay and pensions, which further complements a decade of industry leading pay awards.
Walkouts at the major ports are already putting pressure on stretched supply chains, with UK manufacturing set to take the brunt of supply bottle necks.
The current strike at the port of Felixstowe could result in over $800m in trade being disrupted according to new analysis by Russell Group, a data and analytics company.
Suki Basi, Russell Group managing director, commented: “The disruption at Felixstowe spells more uncertainty for businesses, consumers and governments alike. Ports across the globe are facing congestion, due to a large backlog caused by the pandemic. As our analysis has shown today, these strikes could increase the backlog and in doing so, create even more delays, and the effects of this will only be registered in the coming weeks and months.”
