Around 1,900 workers and employees at Felixstowe Port, the UK’s largest container port, have gone on strike for about eight days; This is the first strike of its kind in thirty years.

“The port operator (Felixto Docks) and the parent company (CK Hutchison) are making huge profits, so the port should raise salaries significantly,” said Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite.

For its part, Port Authority spokesman Paul Davey explained that “the Port Authority has proposed an increase from 8.1 percent to 9.6 percent while the country’s average wage growth remains in the 5 percent range,” noting that “the local economy is contracting and on the way to recession. Therefore, the port considers the wage increase proposal to be very fair.

The strike is scheduled to last eight days after workers rejected the port authority’s proposed increase, which is estimated at 7 percent, considering it below the current inflation rate, which exceeded the 10 percent threshold.

About 2,550 workers and employees work at the vital port through which about 48 per cent of container traffic in the UK passes, which could threaten the country’s supply and distribution chains in the coming days.