What’s happening to P and O

I thought one of the Brexit Benefits was job protection for British workers. Now they are being made redundant - how can that be if new foreign workers are immediately hired?

There are two busloads of Eastern European workers waiting to take the jobs. The crew are having a lock in. The Dutch captain isn't allowing anyone on board. Interesting situation.

It is interesting. I’m waiting to hear if British Labour laws apply here

They may be. foreign owned company but they took a shedload of money from the UK government in the pandemic.

Precisely. If British Labour legislation doesn’t apply to the sacking of its workforce, that suggests they obtained furlough fraudulently

And yes, Brexit was and remains a disaster

Why can't the current staff just be transferred over to the new agency or are they refusing to sign contracts?
Whatever is happening , I fear job security in any shape or form is no longer what it was.

P&O have history of behaving like this.

www.echo-news.co.uk/news/national/18182726.pms-pledge-help-north-queried-ferry-workers-earn-1-74-hour/

I remember back in the early 2000’s they sacked workers then and employed crew under the European directive.

What a low blow. It is shameful that these types of deals are allowed to happen. I hope the union stands strong with strikes and blockages.

Whichever way you look at it, this is a very shoddy way to treat workers. I suspect that this is a lot to do with Brexit. Downturn in business, coupled with less employment protection now that Brexit is done.

Reading Meryls attachment reveals P&0s shocking attitude to staff. They explain the £1.74 ph pay to its foreign workers as 'comparable' to what they woukd earn in their home countries. Shame on them.

P&O are not much of a "British" company anymore are they?
- owned by a Dubai-based company
- no longer sail under the British flag - changing to registering their ships Cyprus in 2019 because of Brexit
- and they have been using a lot of overseas workers for a long time - when I last travelled on the Hull-Rotterdam ferry before Covid a substantial number of the crew were Indonesian

Well, that's convinced me to never again go on a P & O cruise! Appalling way to treat people! I hope P & O go bust!

How could they claim millions on furlough if they aren’t a British company? Something a bit off here.

Indeed H1954 and they will be offering cut prices which will have a knock on affect on the other ferry companies in the future.

Is it not because their payroll in Britain and the crew members would be paying British tax?

.... that they claimed millions on furlough.

CanadianGran

What a low blow. It is shameful that these types of deals are allowed to happen. I hope the union stands strong with strikes and blockages.

Not a lot of point striking if they are no longer employed by the company

Of course a Brexit benefit is getting rid of employment rights.

vegansrock

Of course a Brexit benefit is getting rid of employment rights.

Have any employment rights for UK citizens actually changed since Brexit

I read that the agency workers they are taking on are Columbian. Not even Eastern European!

The way the company has accomplished this low-down nasty business is utterly demeaning and - yes, let's say it - cruel.

"The RMT said that guards with handcuffs were seeking to board ships to remove crew so they could be replaced with cheaper labour." (Guardian)

The tories have been eroding employment rights for years - zero hours etc

vegansrock

The tories have been eroding employment rights for years - zero hours etc

Pretty sure Zero hours contracts came in under a Labour government.
For some they are beneficial I used to work under one when my children were small.

DFDS are accepting those passengers left in the lurch.

What a dreadful way to treat loyal staff.

Just to clarify P&O Ferries are completely separate from P&O Cruises

www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/20001098.p-o-cruises-sharing-brunt-sackings-p-o-ferries---despite-no-link/