Aerial view of the Port of Felixstow in the south east UK on 21 August 2022 afp_tickers
This content September 27, 2022 – 11:42 . was published on
(AFP)
Workers at Britain’s largest container port, Felixstowe, went on strike again on Tuesday, raising concerns about a possible supply shutdown, as protests against rising cost of living in the country have multiplied.
The eight-day strike, which was followed by about 1,900 of Felixstowe’s 2,500 employees, coincides with another strike at the Port of Liverpool, affecting 60% of the country’s container port capacity combined.
This is the second strike at Felixstowe, which accounts for nearly half of Britain’s container traffic, after the first eight-day halt in August, the first since 1989.
Employees demand a 10% increase in their wages to match the current inflation. The Union Center said a majority of the Unite union members voted in favor of the strike.
The protests will last until October 5 after the facilities’ owner Hutchison Port Holdings, which belongs to a Hong Kong conglomerate, refused to enter into new talks.
Management offered a 7% pay increase, a loss of purchasing power in real terms as inflation in the UK is running at 9.9% and is projected to rise further.
The port expressed its disappointment with the new strike, but warned that “there is no possibility of reaching an agreement with the Union.”
The new strike follows a summer halt in the United Kingdom, where others, including railway and postal workers, have already protested because their wages are not up to inflation.
Several unions decided to suspend their mobilization in September during the period of national mourning for the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
But now the protest is starting again. Train drivers will strike again in October, threatening to plunge the country into several days of transport chaos.
