Protesters marched on the Port of Liverpool today to voice their anger at P&O Ferries mass sackings of 800 people over zoom.
After gathering at the Seafarers Centre on Crosby Road South in Waterloo, the crowd carrying banners and placards marched to the port's entrance a few hundred metres away. There the general secretary of the Rail and Maritime Transport union (RMT) said the "spring is back" in the union movement with the backlash to the job losses.
One protester holding an RMT Belfast banner was Danny McQuaid, who worked at P&O for eight years before he was fired over zoom on Thursday, March 17. He spoke to the ECHO despite P&O Ferries requiring that the 800 to not speak to the press if they want to get compensation.
READ MORE: P&O Ferries break silence with lengthy statement after 800 workers axed
The navigating officer was on leave at the time, but he said colleagues on board ships were told to stop loading cargo that morning. Until they joined that call, however, they had no idea they were about to be sacked with immediate effect. Danny was no longer a colleague of people he considered family during the months at a time they spent on board P&O vessels.
He still hasn't been back to the ship he served on, and he doesn't know where his personal belongings from his cabin are. Speaking of the abrupt end to his job, Danny told the ECHO: "We couldn't believe it had happened. We were completely shocked.
"Once the realisation set in, the anger started to build about how they're prepared to treat their workers. No consultations with the union, and a total disregard for anyone who worked for them, some of them for decades."
Danny, secretary of the Belfast branch of the RMT, was in Liverpool for the protest today. But back near Belfast, a P&O ferry was detained by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency yesterday in Larne due to safety concerns around training, crew familiarisation and vessel documentation.
P&O Ferries has been accused of exploiting foreign workers by hiring replacement staff on wages as low as £5 an hour, far below either the living or minimum wages in the UK. The RMT union said getting new staff unfamiliar with vessels to man them on the seas is a safety risk.
Steve Doran, national organiser of international seafarers union Nautilus, said: "How on earth can people afford to live? You can't in this country on less than £5 an hour, which is what they're offering these workers they're flying in from elsewhere. And it's not their fault, but they work long hours, they're away from their family, communication is minimal at sea.
"These ferries operate in the most dangerous waters on earth, the busiest sea channels on earth, and for P&O Ferries to even think they can train people up to a relevant and safe standard within 10 days is a joke."
The RMT's north west regional organiser Daren Ireland: "We've been saying all along this week that P&O vessels are unsafe. The MCA has now woken up to that fact by detaining the European Causeway in Larne yesterday. And quite clearly, every ship on P&O needs to be detained until there is return of the workers who have been sacked on the collective trade union agreements that have been in place."
A P&O spokesperson told The Independent : "We know that for our staff this redundancy came without warning or prior consultation, and we fully understand that this has caused distress for them and their families.
"We took this difficult decision as a last resort and only after full consideration of all other options but, ultimately, we concluded that the business wouldn’t survive without fundamentally changed crewing arrangements, which in turn would inevitably result in redundancies.
"We also took the view, in good faith, that reaching agreement on the way forward would be impossible and against this background, that the process itself would be highly disruptive, not just for the business but for UK trade and tourism. The changes we've made bring us into line with standard industry practice."
Danny McQuaid is already searching for a new job as he still needs to put food on the table, but like many here, he wants to see action taken. That may include the end of 'fire and rehire' practices like that used by P&O, or the reinstatement of workers like RMT is demanding.
Both Boris Johnson and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps called on P&O Ferries boss Peter Hebblethwaite to resign the CEO admitted the sackings were illegal and defended the decision on the grounds the company wouldn't survive without it. But Conservative MPs refused to back a Labour effort to end 'fire and rehire' in a House of Commons vote on Monday.
Danny said: "I'm still shocked that it has happened. We're only over a week in now and I'm still shocked and disappointed. I'm hopeful that maybe something can be done about it. We're trying, they're getting politicians behind them.
"I'm proud as well to be able to stand with the people here in Liverpool. Belfast people have a very close affinity with Liverpool. We've had our protest over in Larne. We just thought it'd be right to come here and stand with the people of Liverpool as well."
