Port of Liverpool dockers turn down fresh pay offer at mass meeting

The entrance to the Port of Liverpool, Seaforth

The rejection of a three-year pay deal and improvements to sick pay terms means the on-going strike ballot will continue

Dockers at the Port of Liverpool have this morning turned down a pay offer from their employer Blue Arrow at a mass meeting.

The rejection of a three-year pay deal and improvements to sick pay terms means that the on-going threat of strike action will continue.

The pay offer had been recommended by trade union Unite to its 195 Port of Liverpool workers last week, but more than 100 dockers turned it down by a show of hands at an early morning meeting at Seaforth. One docker who was there said there was a clear majority against accepting the offer.

The docker told the ECHO today that the proposed pay offer had been rejected because the workforce did not like the three-year duration of the deal.

Trade union leaders will now re-open discussions with the dockers’ employer Blue Arrow about further changes to the pay offer.

A spokesman for Unite said: “It did not meet our members’ expectations.”

Dockers have also previously said that a sticking point was the company’s plan to limit claims for sick pay to three weeks. Last week’s offer from Blue Arrow included paying sick pay for up to 12-weeks.

Unite is expected to announce the outcome of last week’s strike ballot later today.

Nobody from Blue Arrow was immediately available for comment.