Peter Lazenby
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MORE than 500 Liverpool dockers at one of Britain’s largest container ports launched a second wave of strike action over pay today.
The two-week strike went ahead after talks “ended in chaos,” according to their union Unite.
Unite accused the board of operators Peel Ports, which owns the Mersey Dock and Harbour Company (MDHB) where the dockers work, of intervening to stop a proposed deal.
General secretary Sharon Graham said Unite’s team had “negotiated in good faith.
“But the talks ended in farce, with the deal agreed between Unite and senior management being pulled by the board,” she said.
Ms Graham accused Peel Ports of “untrustworthy behaviour” and of attempting to threaten the workforce, escalating the dispute.
Unite said that since strike action began the company had threatened 132 workers with redundancy – despite having expansion plans.
It said MDHC was “sitting pretty on the £141 million in profits it has made” and that the figure is greater than the port’s annual wage costs.
“Now our members just want their fair slice,” the union said. “They want inflation — anything less is a pay cut, and that’s not acceptable.”
Unite also said Peel Ports has paid out more than £300m to shareholders in dividends over the last five years.
It called on the company to return to negotiations and “deliver a fair pay rise in line with inflation,” withdraw the threat of redundancies and to honour a pay agreement made in 2021.
Unite national officer Robert Morton said: “Our members’ resolve is only increasing with every new low the company sinks to.
“They know Peel Ports can afford to pay a proper increase and that is what has to happen.”
Peel Ports is owned by the Peel Group, which is based in the Isle of Man tax haven.
The company is majority-owned by billionaire tycoon John Whittaker.
Peel Ports chief operating officer David Huck said: “It’s hugely disappointing that Unite has staged yet another outdated show-of-hands mass meeting which has, very predictably, failed to support our improved 11 per cent pay offer.
“This is the highest percentage increase of any port group in Britain by far and would see average annual pay rise to £43,275.”
