The boss of P&O Ferries has admitted the firm "chose" to break the law by sacking 800 staff over Zoom without first consulting with staff and unions - but said he would make the same decision again.
Chief Executive Peter Hebblethwaite claimed the sackings of 800 people were necessary or P&O would have been unable to continue operating when he spoke at a joint session of the Commons Transport and Business committees, the Mirror reports.
The ferry boss apologised but said that he would make the same choice again with the benefit of hindsight, adding, "I would make the same decision again, I'm afraid."
“We weren’t viable before, and I know that if we hadn’t made radical changes the business would have closed, and I apologise for that," Mr Hebblethwaite said.
“But genuinely, that would not have been 800 redundancies with substantial severance packages, that would have been 3,000 people losing their jobs.”
Admitting that the firm chose to break the law, he said: "There’s absolutely no doubt we were required to consult with the unions. We chose not to do so."
He said they made the decision not to consult unions because they believed "no union would accept" what they were proposing - and that to comply with the law and undergo the process would have been a "sham." Mr Hebblethwaite, who earns more than £300,000 a year, also confirmed the average wage among 'replacement' employees on P&O vessels will be £5.50 an hour - well below the minimum wage.
For some staff, the wage could be as low as £5.15. Many seafaring crew don't have to be paid the minimum wage because their vessels are flagged in other countries and operate in international waters.
The P&O boss claimed the firm warned Transport Secretary Grant Shapps last year that P&O would be "needing to make changes to our business this year.”
He said that a meeting took place on November 22 at an expo in Dubai, where Transport Secretary Grant Shapps was told by senior executives of DP World, P&O's parent company, that the firm needed to change its operating model. But neither Mr Hebblethwaite nor Jesper Kristensen, chief operation officer of DP World could say who had attended the meeting.
Tory minister Robert Courts, speaking to the same Committee, said: "My understanding from that meeting is there was a discussion about 'challenges' to the business but not any more than that."
Questioned on whether he believes his actions have done more to end the business rather than save it, Mr Hebblethwaite told MPs: "I think we've got a tough job to do now to rebuild the business. But I think P&O with a future and P&O that is able to be competitive, pay its own bills, and offer the customer service that is required, has a much better chance."
