P&O Ferries sackings could embolden other 'rogue employers', unions warn

Frances O’Grady, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), said the company must be sanctioned for its “shameful” decision to dismiss 786 seafarers and replace them with cheaper agency workers, to ensure it does not embolden other unscrupulous employers.

She also said businesses can be undercut by competitors which disregard workers’ rights and the Government needs to intervene and deliver on its promise to introduce an employment bill, which would enhance workplace protections, during the Queen’s Speech next month.

It comes as The TUC is planning to stage a rally for the P&O workers in Hull tomorrow, when its two-day regional conference, which brings together trade unions from across Yorkshire and the Humber, is also due to begin.

“The balance of power has swung too far in favour of rogue employers and it's about time that ministers put a stop to it,” she said.

“The Government's got to step up. Two years ago, Boris Johnson promised a new employment bill to raise labour standards and said Britain was going to be ‘the best place in the world to work’.

“Try telling that to the sacked P&O workers. They need to start paying attention to what's going on in the world of work and stop decent employers being undercut by the bad.

“We want tougher enforcement – P&O priced in that at worst they'd have to pay a few thousand pounds for breaking the consultation laws – and we want a cut down on other bad practices like fire and rehire, zero hours contracts and bogus self employment.”

P&O chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite admitted last month the firm broke UK employment law, by cutting the jobs without consulting unions, but told MPs it was “the only way” to save the struggling business and sacked staff are being compensated.

The company has faced severe disruption since the move as several of its ferries have been detained due to safety concerns and inspected by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

At the TUC’s regional conference this weekend, the trade unions will discuss issues facing members and decide what they should demand when lobbying political leaders in the coming months.

They will decide whether to lobby for more devolved powers so local leaders can make decisions on major transport projects and call for the new South Yorkshire mayor to begin the process of taking buses back under public control within 100 days of taking office.

They will also be asked to call on political leaders to set up regional public energy companies, which produce renewable energy, establish an elected assembly for Yorkshire and set up fair work ‘fair work councils’ which crackdown on ‘bad employers’ and work to improve terms and conditions for non-union workers.

The Department of Transport said it is extremely complicated to nationalise ferry services due to international maritime law.

A spokeswoman added: “P&O’s unacceptable actions have resulted in its vessels being detained, causing backlogs and traffic jams which would be substantially alleviated if its fleet was operating normally.

“We are bringing forward new legislation to ban ferries that don’t pay their workers the national minimum wage from docking at British ports, demonstrating our commitment seafarers in Britain.”