Top bosses from P&O Ferries have been summoned to appear before MPs after the "shameful" mass sacking without warning of all UK crew.
The company provoked widespread outrage last Thursday when 800 workers were fired via a pre-recorded video message.
Shortly after the sackings, footage emerged of workers being marched off ships by balaclava-clad security staff in what the RMT union described as "one of the most shameful episodes in its recent industrial history".
Now, the chairs of two Commons committees have demanded that chiefs from the firms attend a one-off evidence session at 9.30am on Thursday to explain what happened.
P&O Ferries chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite has been asked to appear at the joint hearing of the Business, Energy and Industry Strategy Committee and Transport Committee.
DP World, P&O's Dubai-based parent company, has been urged to send a representative and the two committee chairs, Labour MP Darren Jones and Tory MP Huw Merriman, have requested ministers also give evidence.
A joint statement from the two chairmen reads: “This session will aim to understand the detail of the options available to the 800 workers who were roundly dismissed by P&O Ferries last week. The cruel nature of their dismissal put employment practices and UK plc under the microscope.
“From P&O Ferries, our members want to know why this action has been taken and how it can be justified. From the Government and its agencies, we want confirmation that our laws are not being broken and safety is not being compromised on our ships.
“This shocking story has raised questions about UK employment law, safety practices, the support of this business through a pandemic and the redress available. We intend to hear from the key players about what they are going to do that means these workers are not left high and dry.”
It comes after Labour urged the government to launch criminal proceedings against the firm and ensure that workers are immediately given their jobs back.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng wrote to P&O Ferries earlier this week, giving the company until 5pm on Tuesday to respond.
The Mirror understands the company has responded and a response from ministers is imminent.
Meanwhile, P&O said a settlement with workers is believed to be the largest compensation package in the British marine sector.
A total of 40 employees are receiving more than £100,000, with payouts linked to service so in some cases the payments are more than £170,000, it said a statement.
But the RMT union has slammed the compensation package, saying its members are being forced to give up their right to take the company to an employment tribunal at a later date.
Mick Lynch, general secretary, said: “The way that the package has been structured is pure blackmail and threats – that if staff do not sign up and give away their jobs and their legal right to take the company to an employment tribunal they will receive a fraction of the amount put to them.
“The actions of P&O demonstrate the weakness of employment law and protections in the UK. P&O have flagrantly breached the law and abandoned any standards of workplace decency."
The total value of the financial settlement from P&O Ferries is £36,541,648, said the company, adding that 575 of the 786 seafarers affected are in discussions to progress with the severance offers.
No employee will receive less than £15,000, while they are also being given support to find a new job at sea or onshore, the company added.
A spokesperson for P&O Ferries said: “This has been an incredibly tough decision for the business: to make this choice or face taking the company into administration.
“This would have meant the loss of 3,000 jobs and the end of P&O Ferries.
“In making this hard choice, we have guaranteed the future viability of P&O Ferries, avoided large-scale and lengthy disruption, and secured Britain’s trading capacity.”
