Many employees at the UK’s Port of Felixstowe were angry about the ongoing strike over a wage dispute and wanted to return to work, a spokesperson for the country’s largest port said on Thursday.
The spokesperson, who was responding to trade union Unite’s representative Sharon Graham’s visit to the picket line where she lambasted the port for its high profits, said employees were angry that they had not had a chance to vote on the company’s latest pay hike offer.
Some 1 900 port workers, which include almost all the crane drivers, machine operators and stevedores, who load and unload ships at the port, downed tools on Sunday at the start of the union’s eight-day strike over a pay dispute. The strike has brought the port to a standstill and workers have arrived daily to protest vociferously outside their workplace.
Unite’s negotiations with the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company hit a deadlock after the employer initially offered a 7% wage increase, which the union found unacceptable in light of the terminal’s high profits and dividends declared in recent years. The increase offered is also below the real inflation rate of 11.8% and workers claim they are under strain after accepting a 1.4% below-inflation increase in 2021.
However, the spokesperson said that the union was promoting its own agenda at the expense of its employees.
“A lot of our employees feel let down by Unite. Many want to work and are angry that they have not been allowed to vote on the latest company offer. Unite say they are a democratic union but their words don’t match their deeds and they are promoting a national agenda at the expense of many of our employees. The port has offered a deal worth 8.1% to 9.6% this year,” he said.
“The strike imposed on them by Unite is an effective pay cut of 2.2%. Many employees have told us they want to come to work but feel too uncomfortable to do so.”
The spokesperson added that the Port of Felixstowe offered “secure, well-paid jobs”.
“Its employees enjoy a host of benefits that all exceed statutory requirements, including paid sick leave, annual profit share bonus, performance-related bonus, opportunities for advancement, and access to an occupational health centre,” he said,
He added that many employees still enjoyed a defined benefit pension and all received generous company pension contributions.
“The profit-sharing bonus paid to all employees annually was increased in 2021 by 53%. It is the sort of company and jobs Unite should be supporting not seeking to damage,” he said.
The Port of Felixstowe statutory accounts showed wages paid in 2021 of £118.87 million to 2 487 employees, he added. This excluded the pay of the port’s most senior managers which is listed separately and is an average of £47 796 per employee.
According to the financial accounts, the average earnings, including overtime, of employees involved in the dispute are £43 000.
“There are many grades of workers and a range of salaries. The highest-paid worker involved in the dispute earned £86 081.32 in the last 12 months. The lowest-paid port operative received £26 109.31. The majority are in the range £31 300 to £52 300,” he said.
