About 1,900 UK Port Workers Begin 8-Day Strike Over Pay, Sparking Fears of Supply Chain Chaos

The start of industrial action by Felixstowe workers follows a plethora of strikes by thousands of transport workers in the UK in disputes over pay as the cost of living crisis bites.

About 1,900 workers at the UK's largest container port started an eight-day strike after receiving a pay offer "significantly below" the rate of inflation from the company which operates Felixstowe.

The port in Suffolk on the east coast handles 48% of container trade, with hauliers warning that the industrial action will have “a huge impact,” PA news agency reported.

Represented by the Unite union, Britain's largest trade union, the workers warned of action in July. At the time, Unite national officer for docks Bobby Morton insisted that "this dispute is entirely of the company's own making" after Felixstowe Dock and Railway failed to “make our members a fair offer.”

Accordingly, the Unite members, including crane drivers, machine operators and stevedores, walked out from 07:00 BST for eight days after rejecting a 7% pay rise offer. A one-off £500 payment was also on the table.

Shame on the Port of Felixstowe, millions in the bank. Yet a pay cut for dockers. Unite says no way! #SupporttheStrike. Support dockers defending #JobsPayConditions. On strike from today (21/08) for eight days.

✊🏼Share your messages of solidarity.
#dockersdemandbetter pic.twitter.com/8LYQVjbuVb

— Unite the union: join a union (@unitetheunion) August 21, 2022

According to Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham, Felixstowe docks is “enormously profitable.”

“The latest figures show that in 2020 it made £61m in profits. Its parent company, CK Hutchison Holding Ltd, is so wealthy that, in the same year, it handed out £99m to its shareholders. So they can give Felixstowe workers a decent pay raise. It's clear both companies have prioritised delivering multi-million pound profits and dividends rather than paying their workers a decent wage," Sharon Graham was cited as saying.

The latest figures show in 2020 Felixstowe docks made £61m in profits. Its parent company is so wealthy that, in the same year, it handed out £99m to shareholders. They can well afford to give a decent pay raise & Unite will back workers until they get the pay they deserve. pic.twitter.com/hBDegISQND

— Sharon Graham (@UniteSharon) August 21, 2022

Paul Davey, spokesman for the port, told media that the workers had rejected a very respectable offer.

"The 7% plus £500 means this year it's an increase of between 8.1% and 9.6% depending upon the category of worker at the port, and I think at a time when the average pay increase in the country is 5% - we've got a shrinking economy, we're going into recession - as a country I think that's a very fair offer indeed,” Davey said.

“The port provides secure and well-paid employment and there will be no winners from this unnecessary industrial action,” the Port of Felixstowe said in its official statement.

‘New Normal’

Unite warned the stoppage at the port would likely significantly disrupt supply chains and logistics, but the fears were downplayed by a port source. The strikes will be an "inconvenience not a catastrophe," the source told the outlet.

"Disruption is the new normal. The supply chain has moved from 'just in time to just in case,'" the insider said.

However, hauliers beg to differ.

"About 30% of our business is at Felixstowe, so it's going to have a huge impact. We might be able to keep operating for two or three days but I can't see we'll be able to after that. It will cost us a stack of money, but all I can do is optimise what we can do and try to minimise the damage - but the damage is coming," Paul Day, managing director of haulage company Turners of Soham, told UK media.

Haydyn Rowlandson, traffic operator for Openultra haulage company, based in Felixstowe, added that collecting deliveries from other ports would entail additional costs for customers.

James Hookham, director of Global Shippers Forum, emphasized that they were entering “peak season” for consumer goods movements in UK international trade and a prolonged strike "has the potential to disrupt the UK's consumer supply chains at a critical period."

The current industrial action comes on the heels of a strike by transport workers that practically paralyzed the operation of the London Underground on Friday.

The strikes have also affected surface rail, trams, and buses, as the United Kingdom has been facing a wave of strikes due to record inflation in the country. Annual inflation rose to a new 40-year high of 10.1% in July from 9.4% in June, according to the UK Office for National Statistics. The Bank of England has also issued the dire warning that the country will fall into recession in the final three months of this year when inflation is set to hit more than 13%.