‘Victorian’ Conditions Port Protest

Peel Ports are spending Millions of pounds making Seaforth the “Dock of the future” but they seem to have forgotten about the workers who run the port. Yesterday crowds turned out to protest about the lack of basic rights such as clean toilets, rest areas and union facilities. Dock workers, some working 12 hour shifts, have no canteen for a hot meal. This also affects truck drivers delivering and picking up at the dock area. There are no dedicated toilets for female drivers. It’s extraordinary that in the 21st century such ‘Victorian’ working conditions can exist in a place described as “the second richest freight vicinity in the United Kingdom”.

Unite the Union organised the protest and more than 800 members of Unite, dock workers and lorry drivers, are affected by the totally inadequate facilities at the port of Liverpool’s container terminal.

You can learn more about the dreadful conditions workers endure in the short film of the protest at the end of this blog.