Great Britain: P&O ferries under fire from critics after 800 illegal dismissals

In mid-March 2022, the management of the P&O ferry company found a solution to overcome the crisis born of the Covid-19 pandemic and the drop in the number of its customers: halve its payroll. But she knows that the unions will never accept. So she announces 800 dismissals without notice, and the hiring of temporary foreign workers paid 6.60 euros per hour when the British minimum wage is 11.40 euros.

Legally, the company should have warned the employees. The brutality of the process provoked demonstrations in several British ports as well as in London, and indignant reactions in the political class.

“Breathtaking Arrogance”

The director general of P&O is summoned to come and explain himself to the House of Commons. He makes amends: “There is absolutely no doubt that we should have consulted the unions. We chose not to because we believed…
– You chose to break the lawinterrupts a deputy.
– Because… We chose not to consult and we will… and we compensate everyone for that.”

P&O specifies: it will pay a minimum of 18,000 euros to each dismissed employee. Some will even receive 120,000 euros, says management. Saving the company is at this price, she explains, and it thus conforms to what is happening in the sector at the international level. But for Grant Shapps, the Minister of Transport, this is not enough. He made the rounds of the media to shout his anger: “It’s an outrage! I’m not defending P&O in any way. What they’ve done is breathtakingly arrogant. The boss needs to step down.” The government says it will take steps to force the company to reverse the layoffs.

Britain’s P&O ferries in turmoil lay off 800 workers without notice – report by Richard Place


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