What’s happening to P and O

The P & O Boss has admitted that their actions are unlawful under UK law. That would seem pretty clear. They are offering enhanced redundancy packages. However as they are admitting to non compliance with legislation you would think that they must to be held to account by the courts. I can't see that there's any other action that can possibly be taken. It is really extraordinary that a company with such a reputation would act in this way.

Apart from what was done to the P&O staff, the exploitation of the replacement staff is a cause for concern too, presumably little in the way of employee rights or protection, but there again, that's what a lot of you voted for wasn't it? Bonfire of the regulations and red tape and all that. Oh, and don't think in anyway that it will make ferry fares cheaper, it will only increase the profit margins for the warm hearted, humanitarian owners. This is just the first of many, and I am sure that other employers will be watching to see what kind of punishment or sanctions are handed out.

Oh well that’s ok. then. They will be paying their new crew less than £2 an hour apparently. They should be stripped of any government contracts and banned from U.K. ports.

P&O are saying the sacked employees are not protected by English employment law because all the ships they worked on are registered abroad. Interesting.

According to a maritime lawyer P&O have not broken any rules in not informing the Government that they were about to sack hundreds of staff. Chris Grayling changed the law when he was Transport Secretary. This man should not be allowed anywhere near boats. He awarded Seabourne Freight a whopping £13.8m contract to supply extra ferries should there be a No-Deal Brexit. One teeny snag. They had no ships!

I saw that vegansrock. She joined in the chanting of "Shame on you" until she realised they were talking about her. ?

Never mind, in post Brexit Britain they can easily find new jobs as care workers, picking fruit,lorry drivers, in hospitality, as doctors or nurses…….
Anyone see that Tory MP heckled at a protest. for voting for the “fire and rehire” legislation??

Maybe the Port workers could do the same as they do with Russian ships and refuse to dock and service P&O Ferries.

Apparently the foreign workers are to be paid £2 an hour via an agency set up recently by one of the owners.

Silvertwigs

This cannot be legal, with redundancy it’s the job that becomes untenable not the person? If they are hiring cheaper workers, then the jobs must still be there.

Yes, it is legal. All the employer has to do is change the terms and conditions slightly.

It's possible that P & O has behaved illegally because it hasn't given the statutory notice period required for mass redundancies and didn't inform the secretary of state. Employees could take P & O to court for unfair dismissal, but it will drag on for ages and they won't get their jobs back on the same terms. At most, they might be awarded some compensation, but P & O has probably factored that into its calculations.

Every year there is a meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos where the great and the good meet to discuss world economic affairs.

Apparently the main subject under discussion is always how to lower wages and take more profits.

I noticed one or two digs about Labour on here but please remember that it is this Tory govt that is responsible for what is happening.

It really is about time that we stopped encouraging sales of UK companies to foreign buyers, especially the Russians, the Saudis and United Arab Emirates.

*Plunger" you are right (generally speaking) but try telling that to the foreign owners from the above countries. It's happened before - IKEA several years ago sacked the staff, possibly in one store and then re-hired them on poor terms. If I remember correctly, the staff were told at a meeting that they'd done very well and then wham................

CoolCoco

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

£10 million in furlough pay plus more besides

Whitewavemark2

Owned by a Dubai based company.

Hit by covid and Brexit.

The ultimate owner is the UAE

vegansrock

P and O have apparently broken several laws by this move. Let’s see if anything is done about this.,

I bet nothing is done about it by this Government

This is shocking.

No P&O for us ever again.

Well, regardless of whether it is because of Brexit or the Pandemic, I will never use them again. Their brand is totally tarnished as far as I am concerned and we are entitled to vote with our feet.

Leaving the European Union, Brexiteers on both the right and left argued, would mean an end to importing low-cost European labour that “undercut” British workers. But the P&O mass lay-off exposes this argument as a red herring. The problem was not freedom of movement, but a loosely regulated labour market and poorly enforced labour laws, particularly relating to agency work and bogus self-employment. [Source - New Statesman]

The article goes on to comment on the " shoddy agency conditions", "gig economy workers" and "the many cracks and grey areas of UK employment rights over the years." It is not just Brexiteers that should be hanging their heads. Those who voted in this New Right government, which has wanted the labour market structured to make them rich ever since Thatcher, should be joining them.

[https://www.newstatesman.com/comment/2022/03/po-proves-brexit-has-failed-on-its-own-terms]

P and O have apparently broken several laws by this move. Let’s see if anything is done about this.,

This cannot be legal, with redundancy it’s the job that becomes untenable not the person? If they are hiring cheaper workers, then the jobs must still be there.

One reason the RMT backed Brexit was to “protect employment of seafarers” - rings a bit hollow, The U.K. have been destroying workers rights since Thatcher. and don’t look like they are changing any time soon.

No doubt P&O will have expensive lawyers advising them and the legalities should have been followed. However I heard on the radio that if. A company wants to sack more than 150 (?) employees they must inform the government. Was the government told? We will never know the truth of that.

Being sacked and being made redundant are two different things, and it probably does depend on which countries laws the company runs under.

Still a #h8t thing to do. But having security guards come on board with handcuffs almost is totally unbelievable.

This is what happens when money money money is the only important factor.

Most merchant sea vessels are manned by cheap workers from the East. Not much of a life for them either.

patrish

This has nothing to do with cruise ships P&O ferries is separate and has been for over 20 years

Point has been made several times already...

How do you feel about the owners of P&O Ferries running a 'freeport' where a bonfire of employment legislation can take place?

Just getting a bit of practice in here...

This has nothing to do with cruise ships P&O ferries is separate and has been for over 20 years

Some of the British “ replacements” have walked off once they found out what was happening. Will all these replacements be fully trained?