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P&O Ferries: Transport Secretary tells boss to reinstate 800 sacked workers
Published 13:19 24 Mar 2022 GMT
Updated 13:48 28 Mar 2022 BST
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Grant Shapps said seafarers deserved respect
Grant Shapps has written to P&O boss Peter Hebblethwaite to give him "one final opportunity" to reinstate the 800 workers sacked by the ferry company earlier this month. The transport secretary told Hebblethwaitethe that new legislation will require all ferry companies operating out of UK ports to pay the national minimum wage - meaning the proposed average pay of £5.50 per hour could be unlawful. Safety concerns aboard vessels have been raised by former staff, after it was alleged the replacement crew was agency workers, being paid as little as £1.80 an hour. The P&O boss, who earns a base salary of £350,000 a year, confirmed during a select committee hearing last Thursday that the average wage among replacement employees on P&O vessels will be under minimum wage. He told MPs the wage levels were "competitive", and added: "Where we are required to pay national minimum wage, we will pay national minimum wage.” https://twitter.com/grantshapps/status/1508388807695118345?s=20&t=TGN50oAiDAhHahXk5Ln94QLast week, Hebblethwaite admitted a decision to sack crew on 17 March without consulting the unions broke the law - but said he would do it all again.
"We chose not to consult," he told the Transport Select Committee. "It was our assessment that the change was of such magnitude that no union could accept our proposal."The chief executive has previously denied breaking British labour laws because the ships are registered outside of the UK.
Hebblethwaite said the firm had informed authorities in Barbados, Bermuda and Cyprus on 17 March where the ships are registered, and was not under any obligation to inform the UK government.
He claimed the sackings were necessary or P&O would have been unable to continue operating - adding: "I would make the same decision again, I'm afraid."Explore more on these topics:
