The labor strike at the port of Felixstowe in the UK is growing more acrimonious. German ports of Hamburg and Bremerhaven are also seeing industrial actions. The current negotiations on the US West coast are also not seeing results yet. And there are impending strikes at Liverpool and the East Coast US looming.
I think there are going to be more of these strikes and actions for more pay and better benefits for port workers.
From the union perspective, when is a better time to strike? When congestion is a problem, when everyone is complaining about missed or late delivery, that is clearly the time to get management to cough up more wages and benefits. And the ocean carriers and port terminal operators are clearly making big money from the high freight rates for containers. some ocean lines have made over 100% profit this past year.
And it’s also true that the recent spate of inflation is making even substantial proposed raises seem paltry. Inflation at 10% makes a single-digit percent raise going backward for workers.
By Mike Wackett 24/08/2022
Felixstowe dockers lose overtime and union threatens ‘action until Xmas’ – The Loadstar
Supply Chain and Logistics 