P&O Ferries has been accused of trying to cut the pay of the new cheap foreign staff who were brought in to replace 800 seafarers suddenly sacked over Zoom a month ago. Union leaders say the replacement agency staff were given just a one-month contract at the start of their employment and are now being asked to sign new contracts on even lower pay.
Workers say chefs paid £2,336 a month on temporary contracts were asked to sign new deals giving them £195 a month less, reports The Mirror. Some crew earn just £748 a month for a 40-hour week – £4.30 an hour.
The new crew was hired through Malta-based International Ferry Management, set up in February. In the email seen by the Sunday Mirror, a Romanian chef claimed IFM and P&O were trying to make agency crew sign new contracts.
