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Liverpool set to make workers redundant as box volumes tumble – updated

[ October 7, 2022   //   ]

Peel Ports’ Port of Liverpool is to start consultations on redundancy and restructure its box division, citing “a marked deterioration in the volume of containers”.

The Port has recently suffered strike action in recent weeks by Unite the Union who have rejected a 10.2% increase in basic pay.

Peel Ports said the decision was “extremely regrettable but now unavoidable, given the economic backdrop”.

Peel says that the unitised cargo market is experiencing a significant decline in volume and that the global economic outlook is bleak, with rising interest rates, higher energy costs and weakening consumer demand for manufactured and imported goods.

It says that container volumes through UK ports fell by 17% during the last financial crisis and this took several years to recover. It adds that the current economic challenges may lead to a much higher fall in disposable income over the coming 12 to 24 months.

In a statement, an unnamed 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.”

Peel Ports opened its £400 million new deepwater Liverpool2 terminal in November 2016 and was increasing its capacity with new gantry cranes as recently as summer 2021.

The port also mounted a vigorous marketing campaign to persuade ship operators and cargo owners to route their cargo through northern ports, avoiding congested gateways in the south-east.

However, the Unite union dismissed the port operators claims, saying that it had been “giving press briefings about redundancies for months” and that the move was “a cynical attempt to intimidate workers now” pursuing their current pay claim.

Unite general secretary 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.”

Unite says that Peel Ports has paid out around £300 million in dividends over the past five years and that its highest paid director received pay and benefits totalling £4.5 million in 2021 compared with £1.6 million in 2020.

Unite national officer Robert Morton said: “Peel Ports has been giving press briefings about redundancies for months now, so this announcement is not new news.

“But these plans confirm that the company was never going to discuss pay in good faith.  It was always intent on attacking the workforce to bolster profits. Unite stands firm in a dispute that is no longer solely about pay but is now about jobs as well.”

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