The largest container port in the UK's workforce has started what it claims will be an eight-day strike, making them the most recent employees in the nation to do so in order to demand more compensation amid growing inflation and the skyrocketing cost of living.
On Sunday, about 2,000 employees at the Port of Felixstowe, which receives more than half of the country's incoming freight in the form of four million containers annually from 2,000 ships, went on strike.
With only one out of every five trains operating in the UK on Saturday due to a railway workers' strike, the conflict has stoked concerns about supply chain issues at a time when the transportation sector is already suffering from work stoppages.
Later this month, postal workers also want to strike for four days. The telecoms giant BT recently faced its stoppage in decades. Amazon warehouse staff, criminal lawyers and refuse collectors are among those who have staged walkouts in recent weeks.
Bobby Morton, the national officer for docks at the Unite union, which represents the striking Felixstowe workers, told the source that "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."
"The corporation has had every chance to provide our members a fair offer, but has decided not to do so," the statement reads.
The Port of Felixstowe, which is owned by CK Hutchison Holding Ltd, issued a statement expressing its "disappointment" that the walkout had taken place and describing its offer of average pay increases of 8% as "reasonable."
"This pointless industrial action will not benefit the port, which offers safe and well-paying jobs," it added.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which started on February 24, contributed to rising food and energy prices, which helped the UK's inflation rate reach a 40-year high last month, breaking the 10 percent mark.
According to the Bank of England, it will rise above 13 percent this year, sending the British economy into a protracted downturn.
According to the source, "Workers are struggling, as are so many people in the UK, with this rampant spike in the cost of living, both in terms of products inflation and very alarming rises in the cost of fueling people's houses."
However, he continued, the strike can make an already precarious situation worse. One of the largest container shippers in the world, shipping company Maersk, has cautioned that the move will have a substantial impact, causing operational delay and forcing it to make changes to its vessel lineup.
Especially in terms of textiles, but also in terms of all kinds of things brought in via here, this port is really significant, according to Fawcett.
Therefore, individuals and businesses in the UK are already experiencing hardship. Furthermore, such actions will inevitably enhance the vulnerability of certain supply chains and may contribute to future inflation.
