Nearly 2,000 workers at Britain's largest container port will start an eight-day strike on Sunday over a wage dispute, AP NEWS reported..

Workers, including crane operators and machine operators, will leave their jobs at the port of Felixstowe on the east coast of England, which handles around 4 million containers a year from 2,000 ships..

The strike comes at a time when UK residents were facing disruptions in train traffic on Saturday. For the third day in a row, thousands of railroad workers are on strike in the summer, seeking higher wages and job security amid soaring food and energy prices..

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Only one in five trains in the UK were expected to run on Saturday, and trains were out of service all day in some areas.

Among the victims were football and cricket fans attending sports matches, as well as tourists.. Outages to continue into Sunday as union leaders speak of more strikes likely.

Unione Unite claims Port Felixstowe's parent company, CK Hutchison Holding Ltd. , prioritizes profits, not decent wages for employees.

The port authorities, in turn, said they were "

Felixstowe handles almost half of the containerized cargo entering the country. Strike could result in vessels having to be diverted to other UK or European ports.

On Friday, most of the London Underground lines were closed due to a separate strike.

An increasing number of unions are planning strikes as the UK faces the worst rise in the cost of living in decades. Inflation was at 10.1%, a 40-year high, at the latest figures, and a growing number of Britons are struggling to keep up with rising electricity and food bills as wages fail to keep up with the cost of living..

Postal workers, lawyers, British Telecom employees and garbage collectors have also announced strikes starting at the end of August..