The Prosser Perspective.... a weekly column from Dover and Deal MP Gwyn Prosser

13 November 2008

My first contact with the Port of Dover was way back in 1979 when I joined Sealink Ferries and it was very different to what we have today. The port’s capacity was a fraction of what it is now, there were no cruise liners and security was almost non existent.

During the eighties I got to know the Board a lot better when the proposed Channel Tunnel threatened the future of the port. The trades unions worked in harmony with the bosses of DHB and others to oppose the Channel Tunnel Bill and a get a better deal for Dover.

Gwyneth Dunwoody MP, who was a champion of the Transport & General Workers Union (now known as UNITE T&G) visited Dover and met with Board members and port workers and supported our joint campaign.

I was a Parliamentary Agent and became the co-ordinator of that campaign when the Bill reached the House of Lords and I was well placed to see how effective and productive our joint efforts were in modifying the final form of the Channel Tunnel Act.

This joint working was typical of the way DHB has operated in the past and even during the days when the T&G had a closed shop agreement in the port, the two sides were civilised enough to sit down together and negotiate sensible settlements and this is how it should be – especially in a publicly owned trust post which has the obligation to consider the well-being of the town and the stakeholders.

During the nineties the Conservative Government wanted to remove Dover’s trust status and sell it off to the highest bidder using their privatisation legislation. My Labour colleagues, supported by port employees and with the acquiescence of DHB, campaigned hard to keep the port public - and then along came the 1997 General Election which put Labour into power and scuppered the Tory privatisation plans.

However, the pressure to privatise has not gone away and as recently as 2005 the Dover & Deal Conservative Association went into the General Election with the pledge that if they won the election they would indeed privatise Dover.

It’s very sad that DHB’s proud history of good industrial relations is being sullied by the unilateral action of the current Board who are running roughshod over the interests of their employees, throwing down the gauntlet and refusing to negotiate.

When attending Remembrance Services on Sunday it was gratifying to meet so many people who shared my support for the port workers stance and were appalled by the way DHB were behaving and in particular they were appalled by their refusal to meet with UNITE for meaningful negotiations.

It’s just not good enough for the Chief Executive to say he’s willing to consult. When your job is up for grabs and your pension is in jeopardy you don’t want to be consulted on how much you are going to lose - you want to negotiate on the decision that’s threatening your future.