Workers at the Port of Felixstowe in Suffolk walked out twice after the union Unite rejected a pay deal.
The port said many customers had rearranged the transport of their goods due to the strikes.
Miles Hubbard, of Unite, said the port had “withdrawn completely” from pay talks.
Paul Davey, head of corporate affairs at operator Hutchison Ports (UK), and Mr Hubbard, Unite’s regional officer, were called in front of the Transport Select Committee on Wednesday.
The cross-party group of MPs wanted to hear evidence about the travel and transport disruption affecting the UK across different sectors.
The Felixstowe pay dispute led to dockers going on strike at the end of September for eight days, following a walkout in August.
Unite wants Hutchison to grant a pay rise to match the rate of inflation – currently at about 10%.
The port said its wage increase of 7% plus £500 – which it was now paying to staff – for 2022 was “very fair”.
Mr Davey said the slowdown in retail sales meant most of the port’s customers already had enough stock for Christmas, while Covid and other issues meant customers had become used to dealing with delays.
“The sense we got from our customers was while the strike wasn’t welcome… they would deal with it like they’ve dealt with every other disruption,” he said.
“They’ve dealt with the disruption without any real significant impact on supply chains.”
Many customers had brought forward shipments, delayed picking them up around strike days or had re-routed deliveries to other ports, said Mr Davey.
John Lewis said last week that 85% of its Christmas goods, many of which come through Felixstowe, were already in the country.
At the start of the month, Mr Hubbard said more industrial action at the port was possible and 82% of union members had rejected the 7% offer.
He told the MPs he thought it “notable that this is the first dispute at Felixstowe in 30 years”.
“It’s a local dispute… they simply feel they’ve been given a deal they can’t live with and want to do something to improve their pay.”
Mr Hubbard said the port was not negotiating, had no wish to resume talks and would only negotiate on a 2023 pay deal if all trade union campaigning stopped.
“We’ve made clear throughout we’re prepared to talk to them at every junction – this is a company awash with money,” he said.
“There is a deal to be done… if you look at the cost of settlement versus the cost of keeping it going, it just doesn’t stack up.”
Source: Hellenic Shipping News
