Labour slammed P&O Ferries for trying to cut the wages of its new crew, already paid far less than the sacked workers they replaced.
Overseas agency workers hired to replace 786 staff illegally axed last month claimed they were asked to sign new contracts on lower pay.
In an email seen by the Sunday Mirror, a Romanian chef claimed agency crew are being pressured to sign new terms.
He said: “They don’t care about rights. This is my sixth day working without contract, please help us. They try to give us less money.
“We are desperate.”
Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh told the Mirror: “P&O Ferries have sunk to a desperate new low. All while the £325,000 per-year chief executive faces no consequences whatsoever.
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“This shameless board should be struck off for good. Ministers are still letting them get away with it.”
Darren Procter, national secretary of the RMT union, said some of the new workers were brought in on a one-month contract.
He said those contracts had now expired and staff are being offered “inferior terms”.
When P&O sacked staff without notice and replaced them with cheaper overseas crew last month, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the dismissals were illegal.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has called for P&O boss Peter Hebblethwaite, 64, to quit for breaking employment law.
The new crew was hired through Malta-based International Ferry Management, set up in February.
Shipping firms registered abroad and running routes from the UK to Europe are exempt from Britain’s minimum pay legislation.
P&O was approached for comment.
