‘Do you think you could live on £4.87 an hour?” Liam Byrne, the chair of the Commons business and trade committee, asked Peter Hebblethwaite, the chief executive of P&O Ferries, last Tuesday. “No, I couldn’t,” Hebblethwaite replied. “Why do you think that your staff should have to live on that?” Byrne continued. Because, Hebblethwaite responded, “these are international seafarers”.
The select committee was taking evidence from business leaders, academics and officials on the protection of workers’ rights. Two years ago, Hebblethwaite faced another select committee after P&O had caused national outrage by abruptly sacking almost 800 workers, replacing them with low-paid agency staff from countries such as India, Malaysia and the Philippines. Just how low was exposed by a Guardian/ITV investigation in March that found some being paid at less than half the minimum wage in Britain. Many routinely work 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, for up to 17 weeks at a time. But no matter, they are only “international seafarers”.
