EFFORTS to reach a settlement in the pay dispute at port of Felixstowe have ground to a halt following a meeting with UK arbitration service Acas.
Unite, which represents the 1,900 hourly paid workers that are set to strike for eight days from August 21, rejected an offer from Hutchison, the operator of the UK’s largest container port, of a £500 ($605) lump sum, in addition to a 7% pay offer.
“We are disappointed and regret that despite our best efforts we have still been unable to reach an agreement with the hourly branch of Unite,” a spokesperson for the port said in a statement.
Another branch of Unite representing salaried workers has agreed to put a similar offer to its members ahead of the threatened strike.
“The hourly branch of Unite has again rejected the port’s improved position and refused to put it to its members,” the spokesperson said. “We urge them to consult their members on the latest offer as soon as possible.”
Felixstowe said Unite had also turned down the port’s offer to meet again for further talks, but the Unite said it would still negotiate.
“Unite’s door remains open for further talks but strike action will go ahead unless the company tables an offer that our members can accept,” said Unite national officer Robert Morton. “Felixstowe docks is massively profitable. In 2020 alone, it raked in £61m in pretax profits and paid dividends of £99m. It can afford to put forward a reasonable pay offer to our members but once again has chosen not to.”
The port has warned there would be “no winners” from industrial action, which would result in lost earnings for the port and employees.
“Our focus has been to find a solution that works for our employees and protects the future success of the port,” the spokesperson said.
Any action at the port, which has not seen a strike since 1989, would have a ripple effect across UK supply chains, according to freight forwarder Zencargo.
“We predict shortages in equipment, further congestion, increased dwell times at the port and changes to scheduling,” it said.
Port calls at Felixstowe would be reduced or skipped altogether. While some calls may be able to divert to other UK gateways such as London Gateway and Southampton, these facilities would not be able to handle the entirety of Felixstowe cargo.
That would mean cargoes likely ending up at European ports as carriers continued their voyages.
But with congestion running high in Europe, this would only add to disruption there as containers were offloaded to then be feed back to the UK.
“Congestion increased last week at Dutch and German ports, and could worsen further if Felixstowe-bound cargo is diverted to north continent ports to avoid the potential strike,” analysts at Linerlytica noted. “German port workers could also resume strikes after the August 26 deadline for negotiations to be concluded with their employers.”
News from Lloyd’s List by James Baker