Date: 2024-12-21 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00021885
MARITIME INDUSTRY
P&O FERRIES
P&O Ferries staff made redundant with immediate effect
P&O FERRIES
P&O Ferries staff made redundant with immediate effect
P&O ferries moor up in the cruise terminal at the Port of Dover in Kent as the company has suspended sailings ahead of a “major announcement” expected from the company. Photo: Fuller/PA Images via Getty Images
Original article: https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/travel-po-ferries-suspends-services-sailing-ahead-major-announcement-113853583.html Original article: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60779001
Burgess COMMENTARY
There was a time when the British maritime industry was a dominant factor in global commerce.
Back in the 1970s I was the CFO of an international company based in the USA with fishieres operations in about 26 jurisdictions around the world. In this job I became somewhat familiar with the global network of unternational and national laws and regulations that apply in the industry. Relatively few operators at this point in hisory choose to operate under the flags of either the USA or the UK for crass commercial profitabiloity reasons.
Peter Burgess
LaToya Harding·Business reporter
Thu, 17 March 2022, 7:38 am·
Staff at P&O Ferries have allegedly been made redundant with immediate effect, ahead of a “major announcement” expected from the company.
P&O is set to use an agency to keep its ferries running, and current staff will be able to apply to the agency for work.
According to ITV and the Times, the operator is set to use an agency to keep its ferries running, and current staff will be able to apply to the agency for work.
It comes after P&O said it was pausing sailings on Thursday, causing disruption on a number of its routes. The company’s vessels were asked to discharge their passengers and cargo, and standby for further instructions.
P&O said it would be making an announcement with the support of its owner, Dubai-based company DP World, to secure the long-term viability of the firm.
“To facilitate this announcement all our vessels have been asked to discharge their passengers and cargo and standby for further instructions,” the statement said on Thursday.
“This means we’re expecting all our ports to experience serious disruption today so please bear with us and we will give further information in an all-colleague announcement later today.
“If you’re in a customer facing role further information will follow separately on how we would like you to work with our customers.”
P&O operates four routes: Dover to Calais; Hull to Rotterdam; Liverpool to Dublin; and Cairnryan, Scotland to Larne, Northern Ireland.
The Officers union Nautilus said the news was 'scandalous' and a 'betrayal'.
'The news that P&O Ferries is sacking the crew across its entire fleet is a betrayal of British workers. It is nothing short of scandalous given that this Dubai owned company received millions of pounds of British taxpayer's money during the pandemic.' it said.
'There was no consultation and no notice given by P&O. Be assured the full resources of Nautilus International stand ready to act in defence of our members. We believe it is in our members' best interests to stay onboard until further notice.'
UK transport Secretary Grant Shapps also expressed concern at the shock announcement, saying he is having “urgent discussions” with officials.
“I am concerned with this news which is breaking on P&O Ferries. I understand they have temporarily paused their operations and that’s causing disruption at the short straits, Calais to Dover, as well as some other ports,” he said.
“I’m working with the Kent Resilience Forum and I’ve just instructed them to become intricately involved and other partners in this, and we’ll be taking steps later today – including ensuring that my officials will be having urgent discussions with P&O about the situation, particularly of concern for their workers.”
Meanwhile, the RMT Trade Union has likewise told its members on P&O Ferries’ boats to remain on board.
“We are deeply disturbed by growing speculation that the company is today planning to sack hundreds of UK seafarers and replace them with foreign labour,” RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said.
“We have instructed our members to remain onboard and are demanding our members across P&O’s UK operations are protected, and that the Secretary of State intervenes to save UK seafarers from the dole queue.”
A P&O Ferries spokesperson said: 'P&O Ferries is not going into liquidation. We have asked all ships to come alongside, in preparation for a company announcement. Until then, services from P&O will not be running and we are advising travellers of alternative arrangements.'
P&O Ferries ... IMAGE SOURCE,PRESS ASSOCIATION
Original article: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60779001
P&O cancels services with 800 workers fired
Written by Josh Martin ... Business reporter
Published March 17th 2022
Image caption, P&O Ferries are currently suspended
P&O Ferries has made 800 seafaring staff redundant, but some crew are defying orders and refusing to leave their ships in protest.
The ferry operator said the 'tough decision' was made to secure the future of the business.
Union RMT said crewmembers were being 'replaced with foreign labour'.
Private security officers have been sent onto one ship docked at Larne Harbour in Northern Ireland, to remove staff on board, according to the RMT.
P&O said its survival was dependent on 'making swift and significant changes now'
'In its current state, P&O Ferries is not a viable business. We have made a £100m loss year on year, which has been covered by our parent DP World. This is not sustainable. Without these changes there is no future for P&O Ferries.'
Gary Jackson, a fulltime officer onboard the Pride of Hull said crew were informed they had lost their jobs through a pre-recorded Zoom message at 11am and had not received anything in writing from the company.
P&O have said that its services will not operate for the 'next few days', with passengers told to use other companies.
P&O services scheduled for Monday include 14 between Dover and Calais, three between Liverpool and Dublin and seven between Larne in County Antrim and Cairnryan in Dumfries and Galloway.
The union said it has instructed members to stay on board their vessels once they have docked or risk being 'locked out' of their jobs.
'We are digging in for the long-haul. We are determined to fight,' RMT spokesperson Geoff Martin said.
A seafaring P&O employee told the BBC his colleagues onboard have refused to disembark and are instead 'in their cabins refusing to work'.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told MPs in the Commons he was 'concerned' about the reports and 'will be taking steps later today including ensuring that my officials are having urgent discussions with P&O about the situation'.
A P&O Ferries spokesperson said: 'P&O Ferries is not going into liquidation. We have asked all ships to come alongside, in preparation for a company announcement. Until then, services from P&O will not be running and we are advising travellers of alternative arrangements.'
The cross-Channel operator has said on Twitter that sailings between Dover and Calais scheduled for 11:10am, 11:15am and 12:35pm will no longer run, and customers with tickets were instructed to check-in to rival ferry company DFDS' services.
DFDS director of capacity and passenger Chris Parker said its staff 'were working to take some of the passengers in between Dover and Calais where we can, and we have the capacity to do so'.
'Long-term viability'
In a message to staff, P&O said its announcement 'will secure the long-term viability of P&O Ferries' and has the backing of Dubai-based DP World, which bought the ferry company for £322m in 2019.
P&O is one of the UK's leading ferry companies, carrying more than 10 million passengers a year before the pandemic and about 15% of all freight cargo in and out of the UK.
According to its website, it employs almost 4,000 staff.
However, like many transport operators it saw demand slump in the pandemic, forcing it to announce 1,110 job cuts. That came after it failed to secure a £150m bailout from the government.
A maritime executive has told the BBC that the entire ferry sector has been decimated by the Covid crisis.
They pointed to the fact that British and French seafarers are particularly expensive to employ compared to foreign staff.
Lauren Shaw and her husband told the BBC they were booked with P&O to travel on a ferry from Cairnryan to Larne at 16:00 this afternoon. 'We had a phone call at 10am to tell us there would be no sailings today and that they hadn't been told a reason why,' she says.
With no further information, the couple have started travelling to the port because they live four hours away - and are hoping for an update soon. 'They said that if we get to the port, they may be able to put us on Stena Line, but it's not guaranteed,' Lauren says. 'It's really frustrating.'