Workers at Derry’s Foyle Port have announced plans for strike action over what they claim is the extension of a “pay freeze” into a second year.
The workers’ trade union, Unite has claimed members were being forced to face a second year of “poverty pay”. The clam has been rejected by management who said the workers have been paid “inflationary” pay rises over many years.
Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham said its members decided on strike action on Monday next after port management rejected their “modest demand for a 2.1 percent pay increase this year. Ms Graham said this followed a pay freeze last year.
Ms Graham said: “The effects of last year’s pay freeze combined with significant levels of inflation means that our members have had their pay cut in real terms.”
However, a spokesman for management at the port said Unite’s claim did not accurately reflect the context of the dispute with “a minority of employees”.
“Foyle Port wholly rejects the loaded term ‘poverty pay’ as referenced in the union’s statement. Having consistently paid inflationary rises over many years, the average remuneration of a Foyle Port employee in 2020 was 58 percent above the median annual earnings for the Derry city and Strabane district council area as reported by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency,” the spokesman said.
Management said they were confident of reaching agreement earlier this week through talks and were disappointed that no solution was found. The spokesman said the port remained committed to finding an “affordable solution”.
