Union threatens operator
More strikes at UK cargo port possible
08/22/2022, 12:43 p.m
Is the eight-day strike at Britain’s largest cargo port, Felixstowe, just the beginning? The Unite union is increasing the pressure on the operator, further strikes are conceivable. Meanwhile, the wave of labor disputes on the island is spreading: criminal lawyers also want to protest.
At the start of the eight-day strike at Felixstowe, Britain’s largest container port, the Unite trade union threatened further industrial action. “If we don’t get what we want, there will be more strikes,” union rep Robert Morton told Sky News. The walkout in Felixstowe, England, began on Sunday; the approximately 2,000 employees demand significant wage increases to compensate for the high inflation.
Union rep Morton said “we’re asking for the minimum, the rate of inflation.” It had reached 10.1 percent in the UK in July. The union Unite criticizes that the employer’s offer contains a one-time payment.
The port operator regretted the failure of negotiations on Friday. They would have offered “fair” wage increases of “on average” eight percent. In addition, the employees in the port already earned “40 percent more than the British average,” as manager Pal Davey once again told Sky News. The operator warned of the impact of the strike on UK supply chains. It is the first strike in Felixstowe since 1989.
Lawyers want more wages
In Great Britain, railway workers had just gone on strike for three days and caused considerable traffic delays. This Monday, criminal lawyers even announced a strike because of the sharp increase in the cost of living: Members of the Criminal Bar Association no longer want to accept new cases from September 6th.
With the strike, the lawyers also want to emphasize their demands for higher wages and better working conditions. Thousands of legal cases are likely to be further delayed. The so-called barristers had been on strike again and again since the end of June. In the meantime, they neither accepted new cases nor took on clients from overburdened colleagues.
The association demands 25 percent more wages for public defenders. The Justice Department had announced a 15 percent increase for the end of September. But the CBA refuses because the offer does not apply to existing cases and it will therefore be years before the increase actually reaches the lawyers. As of the end of April, the backlog totaled 58,271 cases.
Barristers have suffered a significant drop in real wages for years, and newcomers are deterred by the low earnings, the association argues. The ministry criticizes that because of the strike, numerous victims would have to wait even longer for justice. In the UK legal system, barristers are lawyers or prosecutors who try cases in court. There are also so-called solicitors who only advise their clients outside of court.