New crew on P&O ships will be paid at rates well below the minimum wage, a union has claimed, amid continued anger over the sacking of 800 workers by the ferry giant.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union said it had discovered another “shocking twist” to the scandal because replacement crews on P&O ships will be on “poverty pay”.
Shipping companies which are registered in other countries and operating routes from UK ports to Europe can pay below the minimum wage because they are exempt from legislation.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “The weakness in UK employment law has not only allowed the mass dismissing of UK seafarers it has also incentivised this barbaric behaviour because employers know there may be no effective sanction to stop them doing so, and on top of that they can get away with paying below the minimum wage.
“P&O may pay more than the minimum wage at first to agency staff but they will eventually move to rates below this simply because there is nothing to stop them from doing so.
“We fear poverty pay will be accompanied by seafarers being chained to 12-hour day, seven-day week contracts that operate continuously for six months, with no pension.”
The union has called for a boycott of P&O services and is urging the UK Government to look at legal options to reinstate the sacked workers.
A demonstration will be held outside the Houses of Parliament on Monday and at the P&O ferry terminal in Cairnryan, on Wednesday.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “There was no attempt to challenge P&O on these unconscionable tactics or even question whether these actions were legal.
“Ministers, from the Prime Minister down, have serious questions to answer.
“It’s time for the government to urgently bring forward an employment Bill to stop workers from being treated like disposable labour and make sure what happened at P&O never happens again.”
A spokesperson for P&O Ferries said: “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.
“We have offered enhanced severance terms to those affected to properly and promptly compensate them for the lack of warning and consultation.
“The changes we’ve made bring us into line with standard industry practice,” the statement continued. “All affected crew who were working (at the time) were notified face-to-face and in-person on board their vessels.
“For crew who were off, P&O Ferries made all efforts to notify them personally: they were individually called on the phone, as well as via email and text.
“Virtual meetings were also held but only 261 of our 800 affected staff were on those calls.
“The teams escorting the seafarers off our vessels were totally professional in handling this difficult task with all appropriate sensitivity - contrary to rumours, none of our people wore balaclavas nor were they directed to use handcuffs nor force.”
Meanwhile, the Sunday Times said it received a leaked memo apparently written by a senior Whitehall official which tried to “justify” the mass redundancies, stating that “without these decisions, an estimated 2,200 staff would likely lose their jobs”.
The memo, which is claimed to have been sent before P&O staff were told of their jobs being lost on Thursday, adds the changes “will align them with other companies in the market who have undertaken a large reduction in staff previously”.
The newspaper said it was “widely shared across government” and recipients included the Prime Minister’s private office, while Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is understood to have received a copy.
It comes after Shapps openly criticised P&O’s handling of the sacking of the seafarers and replacing them with cheaper agency staff, stating he had written to P&O chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite questioning the legality of the move.
Shapps has also ordered a review of all the Government contracts with both P&O Ferries and its parent company, DP World, and stated that vessels will be subject to inspections and new crews would be checked before being allowed to set sail.
Daren Ireland, a spokesman for RMT, said: “[In the memo] The DfT seem to be warming to the employers’ argument, but they’re failing to take into account the £270 million worth of dividends paid out by DP World.
“So [they’re] clearly failing to step up to the plate of protecting the jobs of ratings within the UK maritime industry.”
Last year, DP World’s revenue soared by more than a fifth to £3.7bn. The company was still forced to claim around £10m to furlough 1,100 workers during the pandemic.
Several routes have been halted following the announcement, but on Saturday evening, P&O said its services between Liverpool and Dublin had resumed.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “This was an internal government memo which, as standard practice, outlined what officials had been told by P&O Ferries shortly before their announcement was made.
“This was sent before ministers were advised of the full details and as soon as they were informed, they made clear their outrage at the way in which P&O staff had been dismissed.”
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