Second eight day dockworkers strike at the Port of Felixstowe

Name: Measured effect: Second eight day dockworkers strike at the Port of Felixstowe
Creator: World Freight Monitor
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Second eight day dockworkers strike at the Port of Felixstowe. The disruption ran from 2022-09-27 (27 September 2022) to 2022-10-05 (5 October 2022), 9 days, affecting Felixstowe. Felixstowe averaged 0.4 calls per day during the event window against an expected 1.9 (-1.5).

Key facts

Started: 2022-09-27 (27 September 2022)
Ended: 2022-10-05 (5 October 2022)
Status: ended
Type: Labour action
Severity: 3 Significant
Scope: port
Chokepoints: None
Ports: Felixstowe
Lanes: None
Countries: United Kingdom
Confidence: high: Strike dates, ballot figures and the settlement come from Unite, the union that called the action, and from a Maersk customer advisory, with trade press reporting of the settlement.
First reported: 2022-09-13 (13 September 2022)

Severity basis: Port level stoppage of eight days at Felixstowe, meeting the level 3 criterion of a port stoppage of seven days or more.

What happened

Dockworkers at the Port of Felixstowe struck for a second period of eight days from 2022-09-27 (27 September 2022), after the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company ended pay talks and imposed a seven per cent increase. Unite, which represents about 1,900 workers at the port, said members rejected the imposed deal by 82 per cent on a turnout of 78 per cent, and called action from 07:00 on 2022-09-27 to 06:59 on 2022-10-05. The stoppage overlapped with strike action at the Port of Liverpool. Maersk told customers the action would go ahead and set out contingency handling for affected vessels. On 2022-12-13 Unite said members had accepted a two year increase of 15.5 per cent, ending the dispute.

Measured effect

Container ship port calls, Felixstowe

Baseline (expected): 1.9 calls per day
Observed: 0.4 calls per day
Change: -1.5 (percent omitted, baseline too small)
Standardised score: -1.0
Event window: 2022-09-27 to 2022-10-05 (9 days)
Baseline window: 2022-07-26 to 2022-09-19 (47 valid days)
Method: wfm-effect-1.0
Computed: 2026-09-16 (16 September 2026), data revision 1:b52db25bf541

Source: IMF PortWatch (portwatch.imf.org), International Monetary Fund, using UN Global Platform AIS data. Statistics derived by World Freight Monitor. Terms.

This is a measured change in public data during the event window, compared with a baseline before it. It shows timing, not cause. We describe an event as causing a change only when an official source says so.

Timeline

2022-09-13Unite announces a second eight day strike from 27 September after members reject the pay increase imposed by the company, voting 82 per cent against on a 78 per cent turnout. [s1]
2022-09-26Unite confirms that more than 1,900 members will restart strike action the following morning, and says the company did not return to negotiations after the August stoppage. [s2]
2022-09-27The strike begins at 07:00 and coincides with strike action at the Port of Liverpool. [s1] [s2] [s3]
2022-10-05The strike ends at 06:59. [s1] [s3]
2022-12-13Unite says members have accepted a two year settlement of seven per cent plus 500 pounds for 2022 and 8.5 per cent plus 1,000 pounds from 1 January 2023. The port operator puts acceptance at more than 90 per cent. [s4] [s5]

Cause

Unite called the second strike after the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company ended talks and imposed a seven per cent pay increase, which the union said was a real terms cut against a retail prices index of 12.3 per cent. Attributed by: Unite the Union. [s1] [s2]

Resolution

2022-10-05 (5 October 2022): The strike ended on 2022-10-05 as announced. The dispute was settled on 2022-12-13, when Unite said members had accepted a two year increase of 15.5 per cent with two lump sum payments. [s4] [s5]

Corrections

No corrections to this record as of 2026-09-16 (16 September 2026).

Sources

[s1] Unite the Union, Fresh strike dates announced in Felixstowe dispute as workers reject imposed pay deal, published 2022-09-13 (13 September 2022), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (official)
[s2] Unite the Union, Felixstowe dock workers return to picket lines, published 2022-09-26 (26 September 2022), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (official)
[s3] Maersk, Announced strike action at Ports of Felixstowe and Liverpool, published 2022-08-08 (8 August 2022), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (official)
[s4] The Maritime Executive, Felixstowe and Union Agree to Two-Year Wage Deal for Dockworkers, published 2022-12-13 (13 December 2022), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (press)
[s5] Unite the Union, Felixstowe port workers win 15.5 per cent pay increase, published 2022-12-13 (13 December 2022), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (official)