Britain’s P&O Ferries broke the law in laying off 800 staff, boss says
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Three P&O Ferries, Spirit of Britain, Pride of Canterbury and Pride of Kent moor up in the cruise terminal at the Port of Dover in Kent as the company has suspended sailings ahead of a “major announcement” but insisted it is “not going into liquidation.”
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The boss of British ferry operator P&O Ferries has admitted the company broke the law by laying off 800 staff without consulting workers’ unions.
Chairman Peter Hebblethwaite said Thursday to the lawmakers that there was no question that U.K. employment law required that the company speak with unions before making large-scale redundancies.
Hebblethwaite declared, “I throw my hands up,” and added that employees who were laid off would be paid “in full.”
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) called for the government to issue an immediate injunction to prevent P&O ships from sailing and ensure the reinstatement of laid-off workers.
P&O Ferries attracted public and parliamentary outrage last week after firing 800 workersVideo message to replace them with staff from low-wage agencies reportedly earning under £2 ($2.63) an hour — less than a quarter of the national minimum wage.
Footage quickly emergedThe incident involved crew members being forced to leave their boats by balaclava-clad security personnel while the replacement staff waited on port streets in vans. It was what legislators called a “national scam.”
Hebblethwaite, speaking to U.K. Parliament members at a joint transportation and business committee, acknowledged that no union would accept the company’s plans for job cuts.
“We have moved from one operating system to the other. “We believed that this change would be so major that no union could accept it,” he stated.
Workers unions, as well as the Labour Party opposition to the government, have claimed that companies are trying to fire and rehire staff. This allows them to replace permanent employees with workers on lower-paying contracts.
Peter Hebblethwaite, chief executive of P&O Ferries, answering questions in front of the Transport Committee and Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee in the House of Commons.
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RMT claimed that Hebblethwaite provided evidence showing “multiple violations” of the law.
The company broke not just the law, but they would repeat it. [and]We call on the government to publish [an]RMT Secretary-General Mick Lynch stated that an immediate injunction was needed to block the vessels from sailing and to reinstate those workers.
Lynch declared, “This should include the government seizing the control of the vessels if necessary.”
RMT called also for Hebblethwaite’s immediate expulsion as director.
An employer is required to comply with U.K. Employment Law. inform and consultWith unions before collective redundancies
Also, it must notify the government in any country that its ferries operate of plans to make such redundancies. Only Barbados, Bermuda, and Cyprus were notified by the company on March 17, which was the exact day that the layoffs took place.
Hebblethwaite said reports from unions that new staff would earn under £2 were unfounded, noting that the average hourly rate of pay for new crewmembers would be £5.50 — a figure still well under the minimum wage of £8.91 for those aged 23 and up.
U.K. minimum wage for those aged 23 and above is set to rise to £9.50 as of April 1.
The 800 laid off employees will be compensated by the combined company and employee benefits, as stated earlier. compensation of £36.5 million, with around 40 receiving £100,000 each. No staff member would receive less than £15,000 it added.
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