The Port of Liverpool covers two container terminals
One of the nation’s largest ports has confirmed 125 dock staff are at risk of redundancy attributable to a drop in container volumes.
The Port of Liverpool’s administration, Peel Ports, stated the choice was “regrettable but unavoidable”.
Following discussions with union officers, the corporate is scheduled to start out issuing formal session notices over the subsequent 45 days.
About 850 workers are at present employed at the positioning.
Peel Ports stated the place doable “every effort will be made to redeploy affected staff to alternative roles within the business.”
Estimates present that within the first half of 2023 there was a drop in UK container volumes of about 12%, following a 7% decline in 2022.
Economic and trade forecasts present that no significant enchancment is anticipated within the close to future, Peel Ports have stated.
The firm stated the decline was attributable to a mixture of elements, together with weaker shopper demand for manufactured items as a direct end result of inflation, recession considerations fuelled by rising rates of interest and wider geopolitical points.
Ian Cressey, port director, stated: “This is a choice we’ve got been wrestling with for a lot of months and it is the very last thing anybody at the port desires to face.
“We deeply remorse the influence this can have on our folks, however the sustained and important deterioration within the world container market has pressured our hand.
“These are challenges being faced by every other port operator in the market and we’ve done everything possible to safeguard jobs despite markedly declining global container volumes over the past two years.”
Unite the Union stated it might “leave no stone unturned in seeking alternative plans to the redundancies”.
“Unite will demand that any potential job losses will be voluntary and come with the best possible redundancy packages,” a spokesman added.
