- From Sunday on, the dockers of Felixstowe want to go on strike for several days.
- The union Unite called the strike after an agreement with the employer failed.
- The walkout at Britain’s largest container port threatens to further strain British supply chains.
“Almost half of British container traffic passes through the port of Felixstowe and 65 percent of incoming containers,” said British trade expert Rebecca Harding.
An eight-day strike, as planned from Sunday, would risk imports and exports worth around £800 million (around CHF950 million). The clothing and electronics industries are particularly affected.
Legend:
The strike at the Felixstowe container port is expected to last eight days.
Keystone/Tolga Akmen
1,900 employees at the port of Felixstowe on the east coast of England want to lay down their jobs. The Unite union called the strike after a failed agreement with the employer, the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company.
The offer of a wage increase of 7 percent is not high enough for the union in view of skyrocketing prices. Inflation in the UK climbed to over 10 percent in July.
Impact on supply chains
Unite announced the incipient strike would send massive shockwaves through UK supply chains. In Liverpool, too, the dockers want to lay down their work shortly.
The British Ports Association, on the other hand, has not yet expected any long-term effects on British supply chains.