• The largest container port in the UK’s dock workers has gone on strike for the first time in 30 years.
• A salary disagreement has caused over 1,900 Unite union members at Felixstowe in Suffolk to walk out for eight days.
• The union said that the picket line will be staffed until 22:00 on each day of the walkout.

The largest container port in the UK dock workers has gone on strike for the first time in 30 years. A salary disagreement has caused over 1,900 Unite union members at Felixstowe in Suffolk to walk out for eight days.

The Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company made a 7% salary offer, which Unite claimed was below the rate of inflation, but members rejected it.

The strike was “disappointing,” according to a port spokesman.

The union said that the picket line will be staffed until 22:00 on each day of the walkout. The picket line formed early on Sunday as the strike got underway.

“Very few people reported for work this morning. according to Miles Hubbard of Unite’s regional office.

The picket line has been in place since 6 a.m., and the public has been quite supportive.

The Port of Felixstowe, which handles around 48% of the container trade in the UK, employs about 2,550 people. Crane drivers, machine operators, and stevedores who load and unload ships are among the striking employees.

Strike at key UK port to cost ‘stack of money

Paul Davey, a spokesman for the port, stated prior to the strike that employees had been given 7% plus a single payment of £500.

At a period when the average wage increase in the nation was 5%, he said that the offer represented “an increase of between 8.1% and 9.6%, depending upon the kind of worker at the port.”

“Our economy is contracting, and a recession is on the horizon… That’s a really reasonable offer, in my opinion,” he remarked.

Logistics UK, a freight transport association, stated it was “not expecting a huge impact” as a result of the strike.

Felixstowe is not a “just-in-time” delivery port, according to a trade group official who talked to a private television station. Everything arriving is booked well in advance.

“If it [the strike] goes on for longer than eight days then those using the port will be looking at alternative routes, but at the moment there is plenty of stock in the supply chain. Others have already been planning alternative routes – we’re not expecting panic.”

The spokesperson added: “As an industry, we are incredibly flexible and have been working for a while to put these goods into alternative ports if they have to be.”