P.M. BRIEFING : Dockers Strike Over Lifetime Jobs
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LONDON — Dock workers at 60 large ports which carry almost half of Britain’s trade began an indefinite strike today after the government ended a program which guaranteed jobs for life.
The stoppage was to protest the refusal of port employers to negotiate a new national pact to replace the Dock Labor Scheme which guaranteed employment for 9,400 dockers.
Ports affected include London and Liverpool, the two largest in the country, and Southampton where the liner Queen Elizabeth 2 is due to berth from New York Sunday.
Government ministers have expressed confidence that Britain’s trade will not be seriously hampered by the strike as a result of arrangements to divert sea traffic to ports that were not being struck.
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