Liverpool dockers’ strike risks more UK supply chain chaos

Britain’s supply chains are poised for further delays after dock workers at Liverpool’s container port said they’ll walk out for two weeks later this month over a pay dispute.

Workers will strike from Sept. 19 to Oct. 3, the Unite union said in a statement. Peel Ports Ltd., which owns the Port of Liverpool, said its proposed pay package represented an 8.3% raise, while the union said it had rejected a 7% offer. Inflation rose to 10.1% in July, but some analysts have predicted that it could hit 22% next year.

The announcement comes just days after workers at Felixstowe, Britain’s biggest container port, ended an eight-day walkout over a similar pay dispute, and will upend supply chains at a time when retailers are stocking up for the Christmas shopping season. The escalating cost-of-living crisis has triggered walkouts across the country, including on trains and buses as well as ports.

Unite said it would organize further strikes if it failed to get an “acceptable offer” from the port operator.