Labour to force urgent ‘fire and rehire’ vote following P&O scandal

Labour will today force an emergency vote on ‘fire and rehire’ after 800 P&O crew were sacked without notice on Thursday and threatened with handcuffs if they refused to leave their ships.

‘Fire and rehire’ is a practice in which employers dismiss staff and rehire them on new, and often more unfavourable, terms.

The ferry firm announced on Thursday that it planned to make 800 staff redundant and replace them with cheaper overseas workers.

In an impromptu video message staff were allegedly told about a “generous severance package” however staff say no details have been offered regarding this.

The firm said in a statement released the same day that it was not currently “a viable business,” and that it was operating on a £100m loss.

Chaotic scenes took place on Thursday afternoon as trade unions Nautilus and the RMT told members to not leave the ferries, while the firm instructed agency staff to board the ships.

Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said ahead of today’s vote on a motion that would, if passed, outlaw fire and rehire practices: “Labour will fight every step of the way for the jobs and livelihoods of these loyal workers.

“This scandalous action must be a line in the sand. If P&O ferries can get away with this, it will give the green light to other exploitative employers.

“It is the consequence of the Tory assault on workers’ rights.

“A Labour government will strengthen employee protections and ban fire and rehire to give people the security they deserve for an honest day’s work.”

Employment lawyer Beth Hale told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the firm may have breached employment law, arguing that they ought to have negotiated with unions and staff regarding potential redundancies.

“It’s potentially an enormous breach, but they purport to be paying their way out of it,” she stated.