Port of Felixstowe: Workers accept pay deal after strikes

A pay deal has been reached with workers at the UK’s busiest container port following two walk-outs.

Members of the Unite union at the Port of Felixstowe in Suffolk went on strike in August and September after rejecting a pay offer for next year.

The port said 90% of workers had voted to accept an 8.5% pay rise plus £1,000.

Chief operating officer Robert Ashton said it was “very pleased” with the deal, which takes effect from 1 January. Unite is yet to comment.

Mr Ashton said the deal provided “welcome certainty and stability at a time when our employees, like everyone else, are facing an increase in the cost of living”.

Operator Hutchison Ports (UK) had originally offered an increase of 7% plus £500.

Unite had called for a pay rise to match the rate of inflation – then at about 10% – and said the port’s offer was effectively a pay cut.

About 1,900 of the port’s 2,500 workers walked out for two separate strikes, each eight days long, which the port said had no significant impact on operations.
Source: BBC