Sacked P&O ferry crews at Dover have been replaced by Indian seafarers paid the equivalent of £1.80 an hour, a union has claimed.
Mick Lynch, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, said it amounted to “shocking exploitation”.
It came as MPs voted 211 to zero to support a Labour bid to end fire and rehire practices – but Conservative MPs did not take part in the vote.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “The Government is once again showing contempt for workers’ rights.”
Yesterday, protestors, including axed P&O staff, demonstrated at the London offices of its owner, Dubai-based DP World. They later marched on Parliament.
One worker heard he was sacked after a security guard woke him and told him to “pack up and get off”. The engineer said he had slept through a Zoom call in which staff were told they had got the chop as he had been on a night shift.
A senior officer said the sacking came “out of the blue”. He revealed: “They were ordering uniforms for us earlier in the week. I’m not sure what I’ll do.”
Labour called for “criminal action” against P&O for axeing 800 staff without warning. Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh demanded “unlimited fines” for those complicit and urged the Government to suspend contracts with P&O and DP World.
P&O has until 5pm today to respond to questions from Business Secretary Kwarsi Kwarteng. The firm did not comment but is believed to have called the RMT’s claimed pay rates inaccurate.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has denied claims he first heard of P&O’s plans through a memo from his officials the day before the cull.
Shapps said he also asked P&O to rename ships from things like Spirit of Britain if it hires non-British staff.
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