Liverpool dockers ponder ballot on industrial action

LIVERPOOL dockers are considering a ballot on industrial action following the dismissal of a colleague last month, according to officials of the Unite trade union.

Any walkout could disrupt containership operators using the UK’s fourth-largest container terminal, which handles around 700,000 teu a year.

Customers include such industry big names as OOCL, Hapag-Lloyd,Mediterranean Shipping Co, CMA CGMand Atlantic Container Line, according to the Port of Liverpoolwebsite.

The issue centres on the sacking of Alan Lever, an employee of labour supply company Drake Port Distribution Services at Seaforth Container Terminal, who was fired on April 24, after the straddle carrier he was driving collided with a quayside gantry crane.

The incident involved three other individuals and, according to the union, Mr Lever accepts that he should be held jointly culpable.

At a subsequent disciplinary hearing, one individual emerged without sanction and the other two received written warnings, but Mr Lever was sacked.

Unite representative Terry Teague accused Peel Ports, as the port authority, of having reached a predetermined verdict that discriminated between union members and non-union employees.

“The membership is now demanding that the union ballot all 250 members for industrial action over the way Alan was sacked,” he said.

“If the result of the ballot is positive, we are likely to see the biggest industrial dispute in the Port of Liverpool since 1995, when 500 dockworkers were sacked by the then port authority, the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company.”

Peel Ports head of port operations David Huck said the disagreement was between Drake in its capacity as a labour provider and the union, and that he was unaware of any plans for a ballot, so could not comment further.

A Drake spokesman said: “A very thorough investigation into this incident showed it could easily have had catastrophic consequences, caused by Mr Lever’s admitted failure to comply with basic safety procedures.

“This was not the first time Mr Lever had been responsible for accidents involving heavy machinery at the port, but it was by far the most dangerous and, regrettably, left us with no option but to dismiss him. We have received no notification of any industrial action.”