Container port ‘must recognise unions’

A new prestige deep-sea container port in the Thames Estuary - the London Gateway – is due to open in the autumn. It is being developed by DP World.

Prime Minister David Cameron visited the site of the new port in Thurrock, which is larger than the Olympic Park, earlier this week. When it opens it will employ up to 12,000 people and handle more than three million containers every year.

“This whole development is an emblem of ambition,” Mr Cameron said.

Marks & Spencer will be the anchor tenant of London Gateway’s logistics park, with a £200m investment in a 900,000sq ft warehouse.

Trade union Unitesaid the port’s refusal to recognise the union will mean a race to the bottom in terms of employment conditions which could threaten the future viability of the container ports at Felixstowe and Southampton, as well as at Thamesport.

In a letter to DP World’s CEO Mohammed Sharaf, Unite’s general secretary Len McCluskey said:

“As a former dockworker I will not countenance the establishment of a major non-union port in Britain.

“The management of the London Gateway project are refusing to enter into meaningful negotiations with my union and have made it clear that they will not sign a collective agreement covering workers employed at the site.

“If this blatant anti-union behaviour continues, then I will be left with no option, other than to authorise the start of a Unite campaign to expose the anti-union practices of your company, to all interested parties including shareholders and customers.

“It is clear that the anti-union behaviour of London Gateway management and DPW is in breach of core international labour standards.”

Len McCluskey warned that many of the port’s potential clients will be signatories to codes of practice that commit their businesses to abide by agreed labour standards.

This includes Marks and Spencer - a key signatory to the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) base code that commits member organisations to upholding fair labour standards.