MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Largest ports in UK Felixstowe and Liverpool on strike

This eight-day strike, adhered by roughly 1,900 of Felixstowe’s 2,500 employees, affects 60% of the country’s container port capacity.

The dockworkers at Felixstowe, the largest port in the United Kingdom have started an eight-day strike in protest over their wages and inflation, overlapping with an ongoing strike at the Port of Liverpool.

Together, the two port strikes threaten imports and exports across industries —much bound for the U.S. — during a critical ramp-up in the holiday shopping season.

This eight-day strike, adhered by roughly 1,900 of Felixstowe’s 2,500 employees, affects 60% of the country’s container port capacity.

The first eight-day shutdown occurred in August, the first since 1989.

The workers demand 10% raises to bring their wages in line with current inflation. A majority of Unite union members voted in favor of the strike, according to the union center.

The protest is expected to last until October 5 in response to port owner Hutchison Port Holdings, a Hong Kong conglomerate, declining to enter into further negotiations.