Why P&O Ferries represents worst of corporate Britain and Tory exploitation of workers – Yorkshire Post Letters

THE P&O debacle has exposed what happens when corporate business practice turns predatory, and the Government colludes. This is a moment of abandoning levelling up and taking back control in favour of scaling up inequality.

P&O Ferries must lose licence over safety and staff scandal as MPs compare shameless bosses to ‘gangsters’ – The Yorkshire Post says

For decades, workers’ rights have been eroded to the point where now far too many workers are considered to be disposable units of production with no rights whatsoever. P&O Ferries was the inevitable outcome. It is considered legitimate by the owners and managers to fire hundreds of British workers and immediately replace them with foreign agency workers at a fraction of the cost.

The Government knew about this at least the day before and did nothing to stop it. Conservatives have, over many years, opposed legislation to stop fire and rehire practices.

However you look at it, the Conservative Party has enabled this culture over decades and must accept significant responsibility. But what can they do about it? They could pressure P&OFerries to do the right thing, perhaps using the substantial subsidies from the taxpayer that P&O receives.

They could introduce and prioritise legislation to stop fire and rehire. They could sort out Brexit so that the revenue from freight P&O has lost is regained.

Or they could just fake indignation and stonewall until attention is diverted away in the next news cycle – as they have done so often. If they choose the latter, as is likely, our only way to hold them to account is by voting against them. Unless they get a strong message in the May council elections, this can only get worse.

From: Gareth Robson, Kent House Road, Beckenham.

ON the issue of exploitation, 
P&O Ferries is an egregious example but plenty more are waiting in the wings. Yorkshire has been denied the promised funding to replace what has been lost in EU funding. We’ve been had. We’ve been given a kicking and truly put back in our place. We’ve shown we would rather be kicked by our own great and good than accept a relatively benign co-ordination from an international organisation in the running of which we had a major share. When will we learn?

From: Peter Rickaby, West Park, Selby.

DP World can spend tens of millions of pounds sponsoring golf but are short of cash to pay P&O Ferries staff. Certainly priorities in the wrong order.

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