Workers at UK’s biggest container port to go on strike

LONDON

Workers at Britain’s largest container port will go on strike at the end of this month in a dispute over pay, the Unite union announced on Friday.

The strike will take place at Felixstowe for eight days between Aug. 21 and Aug. 29, and threaten Britain’s supply chains as well as the logistics and haulage sectors.

The action comes amid an escalating cost of living in the UK. Inflation hit a new 40-year high of 9.4% in June as food and energy prices continued to rise.

Felixstowe is hugely important to the UK, with almost half of Britain’s container traffic coming through the port. It welcomes around 2,000 ships each year, and operates around 17 shipping lanes offering 33 services to and from over 700 ports around the world.

"Strike action will cause huge disruption and will generate massive shockwaves throughout the UK's supply chain, but this dispute is entirely of the company's own making," said Bobby Morton, Unite national officer for docks.

"It has had every opportunity to make our members a fair offer but has chosen not to do so," he added.

Further talks are scheduled to take place on Monday.

The Bank of England on Thursday raised interest rates by 50 basis points to 1.75 in a bid to tackle soaring inflation, and warned of a long recession ahead.