More than 560 port operatives and maintenance engineers at the Port of Liverpool, one of the UK’s largest container ports, will down tools from September 19 to October 3 over pay and working conditions.
Dockworkers voted for strike action in August after being offered a 7% pay increase by MDHC Container Services, part of Peel Ports, the second largest port group in the UK. The Unite union said the offer was inadequate and far below the current real inflation rate, which is estimated to reach 13% this year.
Workers will also strike over MDHC’s failure to honour the 2021 pay agreement. This includes the company not undertaking a promised pay review, which last happened in 1995, and failing to deliver on an agreement to improve shift rotas.
The strike action will severely disrupt both shipping and road transport in Liverpool and the surrounding areas, Unite warned, adding that more strikes are set to be scheduled in the coming weeks if MDHC fails to put forward an acceptable offer to the workers.
The planned Liverpool strike comes on the heels of an eight-day walkout by 1,900 Unite members at Felixstowe, Britain’s largest container port, last month, which congested supply lines but failed to cause major disruption in an industry already under pressure.
