More than 500 port operatives will strike over pay and conditions at the Port of Liverpool in the UK.
Workers at MDHC container services at Peel Ports voted earlier this month.
In a ballot with an 88 per cent turnout, 99 per cent voted for strike action.
Unite the union made the announcement on 15 August, arguing the current seven per cent pay increase offered by MDHC was “inadequate” and a pay cut in real terms.
Workers will also strike over MDHC’s failure to honour the 2021 pay agreement. This includes the company not undertaking a promised pay review, which last happened in 1995, and failing to deliver on an agreement to improve shift rotas, Unite argued.
The strikes, the dates of which have not yet been set, will stunt operations at Liverpool, one of the largest container ports in the UK.
MDHC is owned by the Peel Group. The Australian investment fund, Australian Super, is the group’s second largest investor.
Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said: “What’s happening at MDHC is another example of why workers in this country have had enough. Once again, a profitable company controlled by a tax-exiled billionaire is refusing to give its workers a cost-of-living pay rise.
“Our members at MDHC have Unite’s complete backing and support in these strikes for a fair pay rise.”
Maintenance engineers at MDHC could also go on strike over the same pay offer. An industrial ballot of more than 60 engineering staff opened 15 August and closes on 24 August.
