Unite the Union has announced that over 1,900 workers at the port of Felixstowe, Suffolk, will take strike action from 21-28 August in a dispute over pay. And 500 port operatives on Liverpool docks have voted to strike – on an 88% turnout, 99% voted for action.
Both companies offered 7%, well below inflation. The Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company made pre-tax profits of £61 million in 2020, and paid out £99 million in dividends to shareholders.
On Felixstowe, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said that the “docks and its parent company CK Hutchison Holding Ltd are both massively profitable and incredibly wealthy. They are fully able to pay the workforce a fair day’s pay.”