The workers, who include crane operators and machine operators, are set to leave the port of Felixstowe on England’s east coast, which handles over 4 million containers from 2,000 ships each year.
The walkout comes as travellers throughout the United Kingdom face travel disruptions for the third day in a row on Saturday, as thousands of railway employees continue a summer of strikes in pursuit of greater wages and job security in the face of increasing food and energy prices.
On Saturday, just one out of every five trains in the UK is expected to run, with rail services in certain areas not functioning all day.
On Friday, most London Underground lines were suspended due to a different strike.
The union argues that the firm that manages the Felixstowe port, CK Hutchison Holdings, emphasises profits over sufficient wages for workers.
Port authorities, for their part, expressed disappointment that the union did not come to the table for productive bargaining in order to find a solution.
Felixstowe handles about half of all container freight entering the country.
As a result of the strike, ships may be diverted to ports elsewhere in the UK or Europe.
The strike at Britain’s largest container port has rendered the country paralysed. ”
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