England (Commonwealth Union)_After the union Unite rejected an enforced pay settlement, workers at the Port of Felixstowe in Suffolk went on strike starting on September 27 for eight days. A total of 1,900 union members protested and United demanded salary increases to meet the current inflation rate of 10%. The port deemed the 7% wage raise plus £500 to be “quite reasonable.”
The multinational corporation Hutchison Ports, which is located in China, previously claimed that the union and the port’s “bargaining process has been exhausted.” However, Miles Hubbard, regional officer for Unite, said he did not believe that claim. Workers wanted “a fair share and a salary boost that comes close to matching inflation,” Mr. Hubbard told BBC Politics East. He said that by enforcing the compensation offer, the corporation had further agitated the staff.
According to Mr. Hubbard, 82 percent of union members rejected the 7% offer, thus “we’re here for the long haul.” In a statement, a representative for Hutchison said: “A 7% + £500 wage raise that is quite reasonable is now being implemented by the port.”
The wage award took effect on January 1st, 2022, at a CPI inflation rate of 5.4%. “The similar wage offer was already made to members of one branch of Unite at the port, who decided to accept it. “On January 1, 2023, the following salary increase is due. Andrew Godwin was one of the employees on strike at the Port of Felixstowe. Everyone in the country is currently experiencing a cost of the living problem, but nowhere more so than here,” he claimed. “It’s not enough to cover the expense; we all have bills to pay, mortgages to pay, and families to feed. It’s high time we took action.”
