Felixstowe: Workers at key UK port to strike for eight days

Workers at the UK's biggest container port in Felixstowe are to strike for eight days in a dispute over pay.

Around 1,900 members of the Unite union will walk out on 21 August after rejecting a 7% pay offer from Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company.

Unite called the pay offer "significantly below" the rate of inflation.

The announcement comes after a summer of strikes in the transport sector as the cost of living continues to rise.

Unite said eight days of strike action at the port will run from Sunday 21 August ending on Monday 29 August.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Both Felixstowe docks and its parent company CK Hutchison Holding Ltd are both massively profitable and incredibly wealthy.

"They are fully able to pay the workforce a fair day's pay. The company has prioritised delivering multi-million pound dividends rather than paying its workers a decent wage," Ms Graham added.

Around half of containers brought in to the UK are transported via the port.

Unite said in a statement that the strike action will have a "huge effect on the UK's supply chain and will also cause severe disruption to international maritime trade, as well as the UK's supply chain including the logistics and haulage sectors".

Talks are due to resume on Monday.