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Dockers in dispute over outsourcing in the UK
14 November 2008
Dockers in a major UK port have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action following management’s refusal to negotiate over plans to outsource some 190 jobs.
Dockers employed in the port of Dover, represented by the ITF-affiliated union Unite, voted 84 per cent in favour of strike action to demand that plans to outsource port security jobs are dropped. The union is still prepared to negotiate over the best way of protecting members’ jobs; Dover Harbour Board managers are insisting that they will not discuss the move with the union.
The workers will also be holding a rally on 15 November in Dover to highlight their concerns. Unite National Secretary for Docks and Waterways, Brendan Gold, who will be addressing the rally commented: “Dover Port management have forgotten the huge contribution our members make to run the port efficiently. To outsource port security at a time when security is of vital importance is negligent in the extreme.
“Dover is a trust port which has a responsibility to its workforce and the local community. Clearly the port management have ignored this important fact in their relentless drive for profit.”
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