Union tells members to remain on ferries as P&O lays off 800 staff
UK-based ferry company P&O Ferries has announced that it will make 800 staff redundant.
The firm said in a statement today that it was not currently “a viable business.”
“We have made a £100m loss year on year, which has been covered by our parent DP World. This is not sustainable. Our survival is dependent on making swift and significant changes now.
“As part of the process we are starting today, we are providing 800 seafarers with immediate severance notices and will be compensating them for this lack of advance notice with enhanced compensation packages.”
Chaotic scenes are ongoing as trade unions Nautilus and the RMT have told members to not leave the ferries, while the firm have instructed agency staff to board the ships.
In reaction to the developing story chair of the transport select committee, Huw Merriman MP, commented:
“The developing story that P&O may terminate the employment of hundreds of crew members to replace them with overseas labour is deeply concerning. The government must do everything it can to ensure that this appalling employment transaction cannot be completed.
“Concern remains as to whether this is lawful. Firing loyal staff and replacing them with cheaper labour sourced from elsewhere is not a model that the public will wear. That model was not acceptable when our national flag carrier airline attempted to adopt it, and it is not acceptable now.
“The government should make it clear that it will not condone this behaviour. P&O’s parent company, DP World, must understand that British customers won’t do business with companies that treat their staff with contempt.”
Sarah Olney MP, the Liberal Democrats’ spokesperson for transport, described the incident as “an absolute outrage” and said it suggested the government needed to “tighten up rules about how registered ships treat workers to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
