Port of Liverpool owners intimidating workers, union says

Hundreds of dock workers will start another week of strike action on 11 October

A port owner has been accused of trying to "intimidate workers" after redundancy notices were served following strike action.

Union members will walk out at the Port of Liverpool on Tuesday until 17 October in a dispute over pay.

It follows two weeks of strike action in September.

Unite said owners Peel Ports Group (PPG) issued redundancy notices to a number of workers following the first round of action.

PPG said a decline in the movement of containerised cargo for Liverpool over the last few months and a recent sharp fall in container vessel charter rates of about 50% had meant redundancies could be needed.

It added that Unite members had rejected both an 8.3% rise in pay with a one-off payment of £750 and an improved offer of 10.2% increase in basic pay.

The union is understood to be demanding a pay rise in line with inflation, which is currently 12.3%.

"Unite continues to make unrealistic and unsustainable above-inflation pay demands", a representative for PPG said.

"We are concerned Unite have no interest in resolving matters through the collective bargaining arrangements we have in place or via an independent ballot, as it continues to push for more strikes."

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The union said the proposed redundancies "make no business sense" and had been tabled and dropped previously.

Unite national officer Bobby Morton said: "Rather than enter into sensible negotiations, Peel Ports is making yet another cynical attempt to intimidate its workers. It is clear that they just want to avoid paying a fully affordable pay increase."

The Port of Liverpool covers two container terminals, the Royal Seaforth Container Terminal and Liverpool2.