Liverpool dockers are back at work on 3 October after a two-week strike for pay, but will be out again for a week from 11 October if they don’t have a settlement by then, and then every other week, indefinitely.
The operator, Peel Ports, stonewalled at first, but has now agreed to talks, to start 4 October.
Union organisation in the port has been rebuilt by patient effort since the defeat of the epic Liverpool dockers’ strike of 1995-8. Meanwhile, the port has been expanded, to become again one of the busiest in Britain, and the workforce has increased.
Pay remains low by international port worker standards, with drivers on huge cranes on a lower basic rate than bus drivers. The strike demands a comprehensive pay review as well as a wage rise to match the current price surge.
Picket lines have been large, confident, and 24/7, with frequent mass meetings. The dockers’ union, Unite, has organised strike pay for the 600 or so strikers, meaning that Peel Ports have no chance of forcing the dockers to back down because of financial pressures.
Dockers in Southampton have refused to handle ships redirected from Liverpool. Although a few redirected ships have been worked by other ports, Peel Ports will have been hard hit.
The European Dockworkers’ Council and the International Dockworkers’ Council have also supported the dispute, and so has the Australian Council of Trade Unions. Australian Super, the largest pension fund in Australia, owns 25% of Peel Ports. Organisation, built up by constant effort over years, plus solidarity, can win.
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