Unite: `listen to the Dover community NO privatisation of the port`
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 their true intentions – and put their bid out to a vote of the people in the Dover constituency.
Unites national officer Julia Long says: “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 they do 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 Dover Harbour Board is sacking Dover workers.
“Perhaps they fear 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 their 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
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