Staff shortages caused by an ongoing strike over wages are impacting container and car terminals at South Africa’s Durban port, one of the busiest on the continent, a unit of state-owned logistics company Transnet said on Tuesday.

Transnet, which manages South Africa’s freight rail network and ports, declared force majeure last week after its workers went on strike over a wage dispute.

In an update on its website, Transnet Port Terminals said the strike had impacted waterside and landside operations at its Durban port, which handles 65% of South Africa’s container volumes.

“Please be advised that operations at Pier 1, Pier 2 and Durban RoRo Terminal have been impacted as a result of industrial action. Appointment slots have been suspended. Please do not dispatch trucks to the terminals until further notice,” it said.

Piers 1 and 2 are container terminals, while the RoRo (roll-on roll-off) terminal is used to import and export cars.

The strike could also disrupt fruit exports from Transnet’s Cape Town port just as the deciduous fruit season begins.

“Transnet is working closely with industry to ensure that the perishable products, along with other cargo with a limited shelf-life, are prioritized at the ports,” Transnet said.

The company said the impact of the strike differed across its operations, with essential services such as ship docking and berthing continuing. Services provided by private companies within the ports were also continuing, it said.

“The focus for Transnet management is to keep operations going with the limited resources available,” it said in response to Reuters’ questions.

The Transnet strike is also set to worsen the mining industry’s logistics woes. Even before the strike, South Africa’s Minerals Council had projected a revenue loss of 50 billion rand ($2.76 billion) this year, compared to 35 billion rand in 2021, as Transnet’s underperformance squeezes exports.

Miners Thungela Resources, Kumba Iron Ore and Jupiter Mines have warned that the strike is likely to impact coal, iron ore and manganese production and exports.

Transnet has said it will meet union leaders on Wednesday to continue wage negotiations.

Over 500 dockworkers at the Port of Liverpool, one of Britain’s largest container ports, have launched a two-week strike over pay, the Unite trade union said on Tuesday, adding to a wave of industrial unrest caused by soaring inflation.

The Liverpool strike from Sept. 19 to Oct. 3, which was announced earlier this month, will overlap a second walkout by workers at Felixstowe, Britain’s top container port, which starts on Sept. 27.

More than 560 port operatives and maintenance engineers employed by Mersey Docks and Harbour Company (MDHC) are striking in Liverpool over a pay rise equating to about 8.3%, Unite said.

Peel Ports Group, which owns MDHC, said workers had rejected a 8.3% pay rise, enhanced with a one-off payment of 750 pounds ($853.05). The union’s pay rise demands equate to about 20%, it added.

With inflation having topped 10% in July and projected by the Bank of England to exceed 13% next month, Unite says MDHC’s pay offer represents a “real terms pay cut.”

It is the latest strike to disrupt rail services across Britain this summer and comes as industrial unrest affects a range of industries, from aviation and transport to nurses and lawyers.

In a statement on Tuesday, Peel Ports said it had committed to a shift pattern change that would result in a 25% reduction in night-shift working.

The average salary for container operatives would increase to about 43,000 pounds ($48,908.20) a year, it added.

“We urge the union to work with us at the negotiating table so together we can find a resolution,” Peel Ports said.

Unite’s Liverpool port workers are also striking over MDHC’s failure to honor the 2021 pay agreement, the union said in its statement.

More than 560 dockworkers at the Port of Liverpool, one of Britain’s largest container docks, will go on strike from Sept. 19 to Oct. 3 over pay, the Unite union said on Friday, adding to a summer of industrial unrest caused by soaring inflation.

 

“Workers across the country are sick to death of being told to take a hit on their wages and living standards,” Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said in a statement, urging the the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company to table a good offer.

 

The planned Liverpool strike follows an eight-day walkout last month by workers at Felixstowe, Britain’s largest container port, which clogged supply lines but fell short of causing widespread disruption in an industry already facing supply chain issues.

 

The strike will severely disrupt shipping and road transport in Liverpool and surrounding areas, Unite said.

 

The workers, comprising port operatives and maintenance engineers, are striking over a 7% pay offer they say amounts to an effective “pay cut” with inflation reaching double digits. They also say MDHC has failed to honour a 2021 pay deal.

 

MDHC parent Peel Ports said it had offered a pay package of 8.3% on top of a 4.5% pay increase last year and other improvements to shifts, sick pay and pensions.

 

“Our pay offer is well above the national average and represents a sustainable position for the business, taking into account stagnation in the container market, worldwide economic pressures, the conflict in Ukraine and global shipping disruption,” Peel Ports Chief Operating Officer David Huck said in a statement.

 

Separately on Friday, transport workers union TSSA announced further strike action from Sept. 15-17 across the Avanti West Coast rail network in a dispute over pay, job security and conditions.

 

It is the latest strike to disrupt rail services across Britain this summer and comes as industrial unrest affects a range of industries, from aviation and transport to nurses and lawyers.

Workers at UK’s Biggest Container Port to Begin 8-day Strike

 

More than 1,900 workers at Britain’s biggest container port are due on Sunday to start eight days of strike action which their union and shipping companies warn could seriously affect trade and supply chains.

 

The staff at Felixstowe, on the east coast of England, are taking industrial action in a dispute over pay, becoming the latest workers to strike in Britain as unions demand higher wages for members facing a cost-of-living crisis.

 

“Strike action will cause huge disruption and will generate massive shockwaves throughout the UK’s supply chain, but this dispute is entirely of the company’s own making,” said Bobby Morton, the Unite union’s national officer for docks.

 

“It [the company] has had every opportunity make our members a fair offer but has chosen not to do so.”

 

On Friday, Felixstowe’s operator Hutchison Ports said it believed its offer of a 7% pay rise and a lump sum of 500 pounds ($604) was fair. It said the port’s workers union, which represents about 500 staff in supervisory, engineering and clerical roles, had accepted the deal.

 

Unite, which represents mainly dock workers, says the proposal is significantly below the current inflation rate, and followed a below inflation increase last year.

 

“The port regrets the impact this action will have on UK supply chains,” a Hutchison Ports spokesperson said.

 

The port said it would have a contingency plan in place, and was working to minimise disruption during the walkouts which will last until Aug. 29.

 

Shipping group Maersk (MAERSKb.CO), one of the world’s biggest container shippers, has warned the action would have a significant impact, causing operational delays and forcing it to make changes to its vessel line-up.

 

Figures released on Aug. 17 showed Britain’s consumer price inflation hit 10.1% in July, the highest since February 1982, and some economists forecast it will hit 15% in the first three months of next year amid surging energy and food costs.

 

The squeeze on household incomes has already led to strikes by the likes of rail and bus workers demanding higher pay rises.