Posted on 03/25/2022 1:04:10 AM PDT by Cronos
The ferry operator sacked 800 of its staff by video call today, replacing them with cheap agency workers
Nigel Farage has slammed P&O Ferries for making hundreds of staff redundant with immediate effect.
Speaking on GB News, Nigel Farage said: "How are we going to protect British workers? Is this just the modern, globalised world that we live in?
"This is one of the most cynical sackings I have ever seen in my life.
"People who voted Brexit voted for better than this. The government had better have a very very rapid think about how it responds.
"It's a disgrace.
Nigel Farage Nigel Farage GB NEWS "I'd much rather say that even if we're less competitive then at least we keep our country competitive. If it was France we'd see blockades of the ports."
The comments came after GB News reporter Ellie Costello told Nigel how loyal employees had been left in tears.
She said: "I spoke to a woman earlier who said she had a friend on board one of these ferries, who had worked there for 20 years, and was in convulsions of tears."
The ferry operator, which was bought by Dubai-based logistics giant DP World in 2019, cancelled sailings “for the next few days”, including on its route between Scotland and Northern Ireland, and sacked 800 of its staff.
A man on board the P&O ferry Pride of Hull in the Port of Hull, East Yorkshire, following the announcement that the ferry operator has suspended sailings amid speculation it is preparing to sack hundreds of workers. Picture date: Thursday March 17, 2022. A man on board the P&O ferry Pride of Hull in the Port of Hull, East Yorkshire, following the announcement that the ferry operator has suspended sailings amid speculation it is preparing to sack hundreds of workers. Picture date: Thursday March 17, 2022. Danny Lawson In a statement, the ferry firm said: “In its current state, P&O Ferries is not a viable business.
“We have made a £100 million loss year on year, which has been covered by our parent DP World. This is not sustainable.
“Our survival is dependent on making swift and significant changes now. Without these changes there is no future for P&O Ferries.”
P&O Ferries security 'board ships with handcuffs to remove staff' P&O Ferries security 'board ships with handcuffs to remove staff' P&O Ferries sacked 800 seafarers and have replaced them with cheaper agency workers
Transport minister Robert Courts led the condemnation of the decision by the ferry operator, bought by Dubai-based logistics firm DP World in 2019, to replace the workers with cheaper agency staff.
Mr Courts told MPs that routes affected included Dover to Calais, Larne to Cairnryan, Dublin to Liverpool, and Hull to Rotterdam, but that “alternative provision” from other operators was being provided.
Labour compared the treatment of workers to the “action of thugs”.
Making an emergency statement to the House of Commons, Mr Courts said: “Reports of workers being given zero notice and escorted off their ships with immediate effect while being told cheaper alternatives would take up their roles shows the insensitive way in which P&O have approached this issue, a point I have made crystal clear to P&O’s management when I spoke to them earlier this afternoon.
“I am extremely concerned and frankly angry at the way workers have been treated by P&O.”
He added: “In taking this decision to make seafarers redundant, P&O have also today informed us they will be suspending services for approximately a week to 10 days while they locate new crew.”
Mr Courts went on: “Passengers will still be able to travel to and from the UK, including across the Channel, with freight coming in and out of the country.
It was done for political reasons, to put pressure on Britain for having left the EU.
The ferry owners waited 15 months after Brexit?
And the owners are based in Dubai
Its also against UK law. The P&O ferry boss brazenly admitted to a Commons select committee that he had broken the law.
“P&O Ferries security ‘board ships with handcuffs to remove staff’ “
I can see a potential for conflict there.
Nor does UK law. The P & O CEO made it quit clear in his appearance before the Commons select committee yesterday that P & O and its Gulf State owners knew it was illegal but went ahead anyway.
What a Wanker.
What a wanker. He’s going to push business to the Eurotunnel
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