Felixstowe dockers walkout on second of eight-day industrial action: 1,900 Unite members down tools in row over pay while Port of Liverpool workers continue second week of strikes

• Dockworkers at UK's biggest port Felixstowe start second eight-day strike today 
• Liverpool dock workers in Unite Union also in second week of strikes in pay row
• Peel Ports boss David Huck is worried about jobs and businesses in Liverpool
• But Unite's Steven Gerrard blamed bosses for making 'no effort... in negotiations'

Dockworkers at the UK's biggest port Felixstowe began their second eight-day strike today, with 1,900 Unite members walking out from 7am this morning.

Today's strikes follow a similar strike last week at Felixstowe in a pay dispute, but with a scaled back presence on the picket line to focus on shift changeover times.

This came as port owners in Liverpool have warned today that dock worker strikes in the city are damaging business and jobs, as Unite members enter a second week of industrial action over pay.

The Unite trade union is requesting a 10% pay increase for Felixstowe workers, but the port said it is 'in the process of implementing a very fair pay increase of 7% plus £500'.

Unite described the 7% increase as a real-terms pay cut because of the soaring inflation rate.

David Huck, chief operating officer of Peel Ports Group, who run the Port of Liverpool has also said he was 'deeply disappointed' that Unite 'rejected our significant pay package', saying the strikes were bad for the city.

But Unite officer Steven Gerrard said blamed any negative impacts on Peel Ports, saying the 'billionaire-owned company' has 'made no effort to engage in negotiations' as the cost-of-living crisis affects workers.

Miles Hubbard, regional officer with Unite, stood with a small group by dock gate number one at the Suffolk port this morning.

Red flags bearing Unite branding fluttered in the wind around the edge of a nearby roundabout where crowds had gathered each day during the first strike.

People gathered there early on Tuesday, but by 10am the roundabout was empty.

Mr Hubbard explained: 'We're just running 6 o'clock through to 9 o'clock, then we'll be back at 5.30 through til 7.30.

'It's very cold as you can see. We don't want to make people suffer so we're doing it in sections like that.'

He said this would coincide with changeover times of the 12-hour shifts at the port.

Mr Hubbard said there were 'very similar levels of support' for the second strike as there were for the first, adding: 'Very high levels of support.

'Minimal activity at the port.'

Asked if there could be a third strike if agreement is not reached with the port, Mr Hubbard said: 'Our members will decide.'

Phil Pemberton, full-time convenor at the Port of Felixstowe, said: 'After the first strike action that we took we asked the company to meet with us to see if we could resolve this through negotiation.

'They've chosen not to, which we believe is unprofessional.

'So we believe it was on us to put more pressure on the company to do just that and meet with us and try to settle this the best way we can.

'We're now in a position where we've had to take another eight-day strike action because the company refuses to talk to us.

'A company that is making as much money as this company can afford to give us a decent pay rise, and we've got workers here who are not as well paid as everyone believes they are.

'I think it's fair for a company where the workers have generated as much profit as we have to get a fair pay rise.'

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: 'This is a tremendously wealthy company which can fully afford to pay its workers a fair pay increase but has chosen not to in order to boost their already huge profits.

'Unite is now entirely focused on promoting and defending the jobs, pay and conditions of its members.

'The Felixstowe dock workers are receiving the union's unflinching support.'

A port spokesperson said: 'The port is in the process of implementing a very fair pay increase of 7% plus £500.

'The pay award is effective from January 1 when CPI inflation was 5.4%.

'One branch of Unite at the port has already put the same pay offer to their members who voted to accept it.

'The next pay rise is due January 1 2023 and we will discuss that with Unite in the normal way.'

Mr Huck today said: 'Our concern is on the impact a sustained period of industrial action will have on many of the gains the City region's economy has made over the last two decades.

'The investments Peel Ports have made over the years have restored Liverpool's position as a global gateway to the North of England and the UK.

'When we invested in Liverpool2, the port's deep-sea container terminal, we recognised that for the hundreds of jobs we create, thousands more are created in the wider logistics and maritime sectors across the City region.

'That's why this dispute is damaging not only for us, but it is bad for business, jobs and the city's economy.'

Mr Huck said the port has worked constructively with unions, ensuring pay awards kept ahead of inflation, even during the pandemic.

'This is also true for this year's pay award and will be the same for the next one in the spring.'

A prolonged dispute will act as a deterrent to investors looking to create jobs in the region, he warned.

But Unite officer Steven Gerrard said: 'The fault for any disruption to the regional economy lies entirely at the door of Peel Ports, who have made no effort to engage in negotiations.

'This billionaire-owned company brings in massive profits but won't pay its workers a cost-of-living rise.

'Making the situation worse is the fact that Peel Ports has reneged on the pay agreement it signed in 2021.

'Our members do not want to strike but they have been left with no choice in the face of Peel Port's bad faith dealings and corporate greed.

'There is a simple solution to this dispute: the company must put forward an acceptable offer and honour its previous pay promises.'