[UK] P&O are paying just £1.82 an hour to foreign staff replacing UK crew

[UK] P&O are paying just £1.82 an hour to foreign staff replacing UK crew
21 Mar 2022

Indian seafarers hired to replace P&O Ferries crews in the UK following shock firings are being paid just £1.82 ($2.38) an hour, MetroUK reports.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), which represents many of the 800 workers who were fired without warning last week, has accused the ferry operator of paying their replacements at a rate significantly below the minimum wage.

Mike Lynch - RMT general secretary - has called the figure “a shocking exploitation’ of seafarers” and “another gut-wrenching betrayal of those who have been sacked.”

“The rule of law and acceptable norms of decent employment and behaviour have completely broken down beneath the white cliffs of Dover and in other ports, yet five days into this national crisis the Government has done nothing to stop it,” Mr Lynch said.

“These ships of shame must not be allowed to sail. The Government has to step in now and take control before it’s too late.”

The minimum wage in the UK for people aged 23 and above is £8.91 per hour.

Shipping companies registered in other countries and operating routes from UK ports to Europe, however, can pay below the minimum wage because they are exempt from UK employment law.

“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,” Mr Lynch said.

He continued that, while agency staff may start on higher wages, the union feared they would “eventually” move to rates below the minimum “simply because there is nothing to stop [P&O Ferries] 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,” he said.

Labour MP Karl Turner has reportedly said that agency workers taken on by P&O Ferries are expected to work 12-hour shifts for eight weeks at a time.

In an interview yesterday, Mr Turner said, “What P&O has accepted previously in meetings with me and the RMT, they’ve said $2.40 an hour (£1.82).

“That was only admitted by them because we got some correspondence from the P&O management a couple of years ago which was leaked to the RMT.

“We produced those documents to ministers at the time. It’s grotesquely exploitative.”

Mr Turner said he knew of workers resorting to “terrible multioccupancy-type accommodation” and had even received reports of some workers pitching tents.

The RMT has called for a boycott of P&O services and it is urging the government to consider legal options to reinstate the sacked workers.

Further demonstrations backing the calls are planned in the coming days as pressure grows on P&O to reverse its decision.

A protest was held outside Parliament today and another will take place at the P&O ferry terminal in Cairnryan, southern Scotland, on Wednesday.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said ministers “have serious questions to answer.”

“There was no attempt to challenge P&O on these unconscionable tactics,” she said.

“This is a national scandal. It has to be a catalyst for change on workers’ rights.

“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.

“P&O has acted appallingly. The company must immediately reinstate all sacked staff with no loss of pay.”

A spokesperson for P&O Ferries said, “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 firm, which lost £100 million in 2021, added that the teams escorting P&O staff from its vessels were “totally professional” and “contrary to rumours” did not wear balaclavas or use handcuffs.

Labour will today force an emergency Commons vote on the sackings and demand that the ‘fire and rehire’ of staff is outlawed.


Source: MetroUK

(Link and quotes via original reporting)

Indian seafarers hired to replace P&O Ferries crews in the UK following shock firings are being paid just £1.82 ($2.38) an hour, MetroUK reports.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), which represents many of the 800 workers who were fired without warning last week, has accused the ferry operator of paying their replacements at a rate significantly below the minimum wage.

Mike Lynch - RMT general secretary - has called the figure “a shocking exploitation’ of seafarers” and “another gut-wrenching betrayal of those who have been sacked.”

“The rule of law and acceptable norms of decent employment and behaviour have completely broken down beneath the white cliffs of Dover and in other ports, yet five days into this national crisis the Government has done nothing to stop it,” Mr Lynch said.

“These ships of shame must not be allowed to sail. The Government has to step in now and take control before it’s too late.”

The minimum wage in the UK for people aged 23 and above is £8.91 per hour.

Shipping companies registered in other countries and operating routes from UK ports to Europe, however, can pay below the minimum wage because they are exempt from UK employment law.

“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,” Mr Lynch said.

He continued that, while agency staff may start on higher wages, the union feared they would “eventually” move to rates below the minimum “simply because there is nothing to stop [P&O Ferries] 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,” he said.

Labour MP Karl Turner has reportedly said that agency workers taken on by P&O Ferries are expected to work 12-hour shifts for eight weeks at a time.

In an interview yesterday, Mr Turner said, “What P&O has accepted previously in meetings with me and the RMT, they’ve said $2.40 an hour (£1.82).

“That was only admitted by them because we got some correspondence from the P&O management a couple of years ago which was leaked to the RMT.

“We produced those documents to ministers at the time. It’s grotesquely exploitative.”

Mr Turner said he knew of workers resorting to “terrible multioccupancy-type accommodation” and had even received reports of some workers pitching tents.

The RMT has called for a boycott of P&O services and it is urging the government to consider legal options to reinstate the sacked workers.

Further demonstrations backing the calls are planned in the coming days as pressure grows on P&O to reverse its decision.

A protest was held outside Parliament today and another will take place at the P&O ferry terminal in Cairnryan, southern Scotland, on Wednesday.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said ministers “have serious questions to answer.”

“There was no attempt to challenge P&O on these unconscionable tactics,” she said.

“This is a national scandal. It has to be a catalyst for change on workers’ rights.

“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.

“P&O has acted appallingly. The company must immediately reinstate all sacked staff with no loss of pay.”

A spokesperson for P&O Ferries said, “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 firm, which lost £100 million in 2021, added that the teams escorting P&O staff from its vessels were “totally professional” and “contrary to rumours” did not wear balaclavas or use handcuffs.

Labour will today force an emergency Commons vote on the sackings and demand that the ‘fire and rehire’ of staff is outlawed.


Source: MetroUK

(Link and quotes via original reporting)

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