The large British container port Felixstowe is offering workers a £500 bonus to prevent a strike later this week. Felixstowe is the UK’s largest container port, and staff plans to stop working for eight days later this month amid dissatisfaction with the failure of wage negotiations.
On Monday, negotiations were held again between the port and the Unite union, but those consultations have not resulted in a breakthrough.
Felixstowe had previously offered a 7 percent pay rise, but it was rejected. The dock workers want more wages to compensate for the high inflation. Almost 2000 employees want to go on strike from 21 to 29 August to enforce those demands.
Felixstowe, northeast of London, accounts for nearly half of the containers handled in the United Kingdom. Port company Hutchison Ports says it is disappointed that no agreement has yet been reached to avert the strike.
Unite said it would completely shut down the port, with serious disruptions to logistics and transport. According to the union, this will be hard to feel in the supply chains in the United Kingdom. Felixstowe handles approximately 2000 ships and more than 4 million containers every year.
There may also be a strike in the port of Liverpool. There, dock workers will vote on a possible strike over wages. A decision should be made in Liverpool at the beginning of next week.