Unite urges Port of Dover Community Trust - listen to the Dover
community: "No privatisation of the port"
1 June 2011
A secure future for one of the most important ports in the
country, Dover, is being put at risk by the refusal of the Port of
Dover Community Trust (PDCT) to get behind the People’s Port, says
Unite, the country's biggest union.
Backing for the People’s Port project comes from the workforce,
the local MP, the community and even famous songstress Dame Vera
Lynne, as well as Unite – yet the PDCT is set to launch an
expensive publicity campaign proposing its alternative, which will
see Dover vulnerable to privatisation, the union warns.
The union is calling on the PDCT to come clean about its true
intentions – and put the bid out to a vote of the people in the
Dover constituency.
Unite national officer Julia Long said: “The People’s Port has
been backed by the people of Dover and the workforce so why is the
PDCT now embarking on this wasteful PR exercise? Is it because it
does not want this port to stay in public hands?
“If the PDCT wants genuine public backing for its plans, then it
should put them out to a vote of the people. It cannot foist
unwanted plans on this town and expensive publicity will not wash,
while at the same time the Dover Harbour Board is sacking
workers.
“Perhaps the PDCT fears that the people of Dover know only too
well that these plans actually mean privatisation of the port
through the back door and so will kick them into touch.
“Involvement and engagement in the regeneration of this town and
its port is what the Dover people urgently want. They are the true
stakeholders in this debate and want genuine consultation on the
options, not insulting PR.
"A community-owned option is the best option. It will ensure
stability for the port, bring it the funds it needs to modernise
and put jobs and this town first.”
Unite says that the Dover Harbour Board and the PDCT want a
privatised option – however, the union says, Dover Harbour Board is
constructed to include members who are not representatives of
genuine local interest.
The PDCT will embark on an expensive publicity campaign over the
next six weeks to try to convince the people of Dover and the
workforce of its bid to run the port.
Unite says that the PDCT bid has already been rejected. Separate
ballots of both the townspeople and the workforce were conducted in
March this year; both resulted in backing for the Peoples Port
above all other options.
ENDS
For further information, please call Ciaran Naidoo on 07768 931
315
