This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/kent/7734836.stm

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Port workers start 48-hour strike Port workers start 48-hour strike
(about 7 hours later)
Scores of workers at one of the UK's busiest ports have started a 48-hour strike in a row over transfer of their jobs to another company. More than 300 workers at one of the UK's busiest ports have started a 48-hour strike in a row over transfer of their jobs to another company.
Members of the Unite Union, who voted about eight-to-two in favour of industrial action, walked out at about 0700 GMT. Members of the Unite union walked out at about 0700 GMT.
Dover Harbour Board said it was confident it could run the port at a "near full" service despite the strike. Dover Harbour Board said other staff had been trained to keep the port open for as long as they were needed.
Managers and non-union staff are expected to stand in until Thursday. But Unite said its members were able to judge from the ferries entering and leaving that a normal service was not being run.
Kent Police has warned that the strike could lead to freight and traffic delays. Striker Gary Punton said: "Two days' pay is a lot to a worker right on top of Christmas, but we are doing this because we believe we have to fight to save our futures."
Operation Stack Create new jobs
A lane on the M20 motorway has been closed in preparation for Operation Stack which could be introduced between junctions 11 and 12 to allow vehicles to park. Unite has said that if jobs are transferred to a private firm, its members' terms and conditions and pensions could suffer and jobs will be lost.
Members of Unite voted in favour of a strike over plans to transfer 190 jobs to the private sector in the New Year.
Unite said its members were determined to protect their terms and conditions of employment, particularly their pensions which would be threatened by the outsourcing plans.
The harbour board wants to turn the former Hoverport at the Western Docks into a second ferry terminal with a new marina and four new berths.The harbour board wants to turn the former Hoverport at the Western Docks into a second ferry terminal with a new marina and four new berths.
It said service operations at the port needed to be opened up to competition, in line with European Commission objectives, before a second terminal was built.
The board said a second terminal would help create 1,000 new jobs locally and also ease traffic problems.The board said a second terminal would help create 1,000 new jobs locally and also ease traffic problems.
Port of Dover chief executive Bob Goldfield said: "We have 250 other staff trained in various aspects of port operation.
"They are fully trained to keep the port open."
Kent Police warned that the strike could lead to freight and traffic delays.
A lane on the M20 motorway has been closed in preparation for Operation Stack which could be introduced between junctions 11 and 12 to allow vehicles to queue.