Job loss plans at the Port of Liverpool have been slammed by a union boss.
Peel Ports bosses have decided to restructure the company's containers division, and will next week start a redundancy consultation process following a decline in the volume of containers handled by the port.
The announcement comes as some 600 employees of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company, which Peel Ports oversees, plan a second round of strike action over an 8.3% pay offer and an alleged failure to deliver agreed improvements to shift rotas.
READ MORE: Dock workers returning to picket line after negotiations fail
Unite the Union leader Sharon Graham said the company was making 'a cynical attempt to intimidate workers'.
But a Peel Ports spokesman said the move was necessary to minimise potential greater job losses further down the line.
Striking dock workers could be seen at the picket line outside the Seaforth docks every day from September 24 until October 3. They plan to return for another week of strike action tomorrow after another round of negotiations failed.
Around 40 control room operators will join the 560 port operatives and engineers who took action last month in a move which organisers said would make the port 'literally inoperable'.
This is expected to have a significant effect, as the unitised cargo market is experiencing a significant decline in volume, which Peel Ports blamed on 'the bleak outlook on the global economy; with rising interest rates, higher energy costs and weakening consumer demand for manufactured and imported goods.'
Sharon Graham said: “Peel Ports’ plan is to pile up even more profit at the expense of its workers and their families. These months-old plans are nothing new and have ensured that this dispute is now about jobs and pay.
“This is a cynical attempt to intimidate workers. It will not work.
“Maybe if they spent more time solving the dispute, as opposed to attacking their own workforce, the employers would be in a better place.”
A spokesperson for Peel Ports Group said: “We have seen an increasing decline in the movement of containerised cargo for Liverpool over the last few months, in line with industry figures which show a 4.6% drop in volume across Europe. This, together with a recent sharp fall in container vessel charter rates of around 50%, indicate a rapid decline in throughput is expected over the next few months.
“Whilst this is an extremely regrettable situation, as a responsible employer, we need to restructure now in order to minimise the potential greater impact the downturn in container business will have on jobs, further down the line.
“We are exploring a number of different options to try and protect as many jobs as possible, including redeploying staff in other areas of the business which are less exposed to the economic crisis.
“We have invested heavily in building a business which has changed the outlook and prosperity for the Liverpool City Region, creating growth and jobs across the supply chain. Our aim is to grow the business further and create more jobs, not lose them. Every effort is being made to safeguard and protect as many jobs as possible and keep redundancies to a minimum.”
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