U-turn over cost-cutting proposals averts strike
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• A strike by boatmen at the Seaforth Container Terminal on Merseyside has been narrowly averted after their union won an improved pay offer and management scrapped plans to cut staff.
The Transport and General Workers' Union says: "We are delighted this has been settled around the negotiating table and that the [Mersey Docks and Harbour] firm has now withdrawn what we saw as a cost-cutting package too far."
Local container operators had feared massive disruption and spiralling costs as shippers switched their cargoes to alternative ports.
One company responsible for import and export work out of Seaforth, Securicor Omega Container Logistics, had feared such a switch would force it to redirect its vehicles, increasing overnight and overtime payments.