Felixstowe strikes: what is the dispute and how will it affect UK trade?

theguardian.com:

Strikes at the Port of Felixstowe are adding to disruption for the British economy from Brexit and the Covid pandemic, experts have said.

Workers at Britain’s biggest container port, which handles about 2,000 ships a year, are involved in an eight-day strike over pay.

As a linchpin for long-distance shipments to and from Asia, the terminal owned by the Hong Kong-based company CK Hutchison handles goods for about 17 different shipping lines operating to and from 700 ports.

More than 500 workers plan to strike over pay at the Port of Liverpool, another of the UK’s largest container terminals.

More than 1,900 workers who are members of Unite are involved in the strike, including crane drivers, machine operators and stevedores. The union is pushing for the company to improve its offer of a 7% pay increase, which it says is “significantly below” the rising cost of living.

The union says the docks and its owners are “incredibly wealthy”, with pre-tax profits of £61m in 2020 and paying almost £100m in dividends. Felixstowe says the union has not put an improved offer of a 7% pay rise plus a £500 one-off bonus to its members.

Union officials have pointed to the retail prices index (RPI) measure of inflation as a benchmark, which is now 12.3%. Robert Morton, a Unite national officer, suggested a figure between 7% and 12.3% would be acceptable. The RPI is higher than the consumer prices index (CPI) measure of inflation, which reached 10.1% in July.

With a further sharp increase in household energy bills expected this autumn, the Bank of England forecasts CPI will peak above 13%.

Business leaders worry the strike will have a damaging impact on supply chains at a time when companies are grappling with disruption caused by Brexit and the