P&O Ferries - mass redundancies without consultation

[Lemmy99uk]

I’ve just seen that ALL P&O sailings have been suspended, and vessels instructed to return to port and discharge cargo.

Does anyone know what is going on?

 

[Snow1964]

Apparently an announcement due later today about the future.

Could be a sale of business, merger, closure, or whatever, but guess we will have to wait to find out

 

[jfollows]

Just saw it too.

Outrage and no ferries after mass P&O sackings

The company confirms it will not run services "for the next few days" after abruptly sacking 800 staff.

www.bbc.co.uk

P&O cancels services and tells ships to stay in port

Published

19 minutes ago

P&O Ferries are currently suspended

P&O Ferries has paused its services "in preparation for a company announcement" later on Thursday.

The ferry operator said it was not going into liquidation but all ferries had been instructed to stay in port.

As a result some sailings scheduled for today have been cancelled, with passengers told to use other companies that sail their routes.

P&O services scheduled today include 14 between Dover and Calais and three between Liverpool and Dublin.

A spokesperson said: "P&O Ferries is not going into liquidation. We have asked all ships to come alongside, in preparation for a company announcement. Until then, services from P&O will not be running and we are advising travellers of alternative arrangements."

The cross-Channel operator has said on Twitter that sailings between Dover and Calais scheduled for 11:10am, 11:15am and 12:35pm will no longer run, and customers with tickets were instructed to check-in to rival ferry company DFDS' services.

In a message sent to staff, the company said the company announcement "will secure the long-term viability of P&O Ferries" and has the backing of Dubai-based DP World, which bought the ferry company for £322m in 2019.

 

[BayPaul]

Outrage and no ferries after mass P&O sackings

The company confirms it will not run services "for the next few days" after abruptly sacking 800 staff.

www.bbc.co.uk

P&O Ferries has paused its services "in preparation for a company announcement" later on Thursday.
The ferry operator said it was not going into liquidation but all ferries had been instructed to stay in port.
As a result some sailings scheduled for today have been cancelled, with passengers told to use other companies that sail their routes.
P&O services scheduled today include 14 between Dover and Calais and three between Liverpool and Dublin.
A spokesperson said: "P&O Ferries is not going into liquidation. We have asked all ships to come alongside, in preparation for a company announcement. Until then, services from P&O will not be running and we are advising travellers of alternative arrangements."
The cross-Channel operator has said on Twitter that sailings between Dover and Calais scheduled for 11:10am, 11:15am and 12:35pm will no longer run, and customers with tickets were instructed to check-in to rival ferry company DFDS' services.
In a message sent to staff, the company said the company announcement "will secure the long-term viability of P&O Ferries" and has the backing of Dubai-based DP World, which bought the ferry company for £322m in 2019.

Looks worrying. As I've said on other threads, P&O seem to have been very negatively managed for years, ever reducing in size. It is difficult to imagine that this announcement will be anything but further negativity - lets hope I am proved wrong

 

[Bletchleyite]

If they're not going under, I suspect a merger or acquisition, probably with some retrenchment, but we will see soon enough I guess.

 

[BayPaul]

If they're not going under, I suspect a merger or acquisition, probably with some retrenchment, but we will see soon enough I guess.

Bringing the whole fleet alongside is a very major situation. I never remember seeing something like that before, except in preparation for major industrial action... A merger or acquisition shouldn't disrupt normal operations. As you say, we'll find out soon

 

[Bletchleyite]

It seems to be going round Twitter that the plan is to lay off all UK based staff and replace with staff from eastern Europe as they are cheaper, and that the RMT is aware and plans "sit-ins" on the ships. Presumably they're being brought alongside so it's easier for them to be removed by force and so that passengers and cargo cannot become hostages in the matter.

Allegedly this rumour originated from a Times reporter.

 

[Towers]

I d

It seems to be going round Twitter that the plan is to lay off all UK based staff and replace with staff from eastern Europe as they are cheaper, and that the RMT is aware and plans "sit-ins" on the ships. Presumably they're being brought alongside so it's easier for them to be removed by force and so that passengers and cargo cannot become hostages in the matter.

Allegedly this rumour originated from a Times reporter.

I do hope not, I like sailing with P&O. Would find it less agreeable doing so in future if they were to pull a stunt like that.

 

[philthetube]

It seems to be going round Twitter that the plan is to lay off all UK based staff and replace with staff from eastern Europe as they are cheaper, and that the RMT is aware and plans "sit-ins" on the ships. Presumably they're being brought alongside so it's easier for them to be removed by force and so that passengers and cargo cannot become hostages in the matter.

Allegedly this rumour originated from a Times reporter.

May be true, but I can't see how this could be done overnight, surely it would take months to recrew* ships

*New word for the dictionary.

Does anyone know if cruises are involved?

 

[43066]

It seems to be going round Twitter that the plan is to lay off all UK based staff and replace with staff from eastern Europe as they are cheaper, and that the RMT is aware and plans "sit-ins" on the ships. Presumably they're being brought alongside so it's easier for them to be removed by force and so that passengers and cargo cannot become hostages in the matter.

Allegedly this rumour originated from a Times reporter.

Good grief, I really hope that isn’t true. What is this country turning into?!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Good grief, I really hope that isn’t true. What is this country turning into?!

P&O isn't to be fair really a British company, it's majority owned by a Dubai based company.

It is however an outrageous proposal, if true. Not entirely unusual in the industry, though - when I used DFDS Harwich-Hamburg back in the 90s the crew were I think all from the Philippines.

 

[Towers]

May be true, but I can't see how this could be done overnight, surely it would take months to recrew* ships

*New word for the dictionary.

Does anyone know if cruises are involved?

I don't think they actually have anything to do with the cruises, do they? I was under the impression that they'd sold it all off years ago.

 

[jfollows]

Does anyone know if cruises are involved?

P&O Cruises is now a totally unrelated company, divested from P&O in 2000 to become a subsidiary of Princess Cruises. (per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P&O_Cruises)

P&O Cruises is a British cruise line based at Carnival House in Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. It was originally a subsidiary of the shipping company P&O and was founded during a restructuring of P&O's operations in 1977.[1] Along with P&O Cruises Australia, a sister company also founded by P&O, it has the oldest heritage of any cruise line in the world, dating to P&O's first passenger operations in 1837.[3][4][5]

P&O Cruises was divested from P&O in 2000, becoming a subsidiary of P&O Princess Cruises,[6] before coming under its current ownership in 2003, following a merger between P&O Princess Cruises and Carnival Corporation.[7] In 2018, the company had a 2.4% market share of all cruise lines worldwide.[2]

 

[Lemmy99uk]

There is a report on Kent Online (it won’t let me link it) that says all staff have been made redundant and replacement crews are waiting at the dockside.

 

[Bletchleyite]

There is a report on Kent Online (it won’t let me link it) that says all staff have been made redundant and replacement crews are waiting at the dockside.

Wow, I wonder how they managed to keep that quiet?

 

[sonic2009]

There is a report on Kent Online (it won’t let me link it) that says all staff have been made redundant and replacement crews are waiting at the dockside.

'You have five minutes to get off the ship'

P&O Ferries has dismissed its on-board crews in a major move which has enraged union bosses.

www.kentonline.co.uk

Is this the report you were on about?

 

[AlterEgo]

There is a report on Kent Online (it won’t let me link it) that says all staff have been made redundant and replacement crews are waiting at the dockside.

The staff on board should barricade themselves in and refuse the new crew access by force.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The staff on board should barricade themselves in and refuse the new crew access by force.

I believe that is what the RMT plan, however P&O are also planning to use reasonable force (!) to remove them, as they will be trespassing.

This is likely to get very nasty.

 

[AlterEgo]

I believe that is what the RMT plan, however P&O are also planning to use reasonable force (!) to remove them, as they will be trespassing.

This is likely to get very nasty.

The police will become involved, inevitably. The staff should escalate the situation as high as possible. I'd be quite happy for them to scupper the ship, although I suspect it won't come to that.

 

[sonic2009]

Could we see a boycott by passengers and haulage companies in the future if this is indeed the case that the UK based staff are replaced with cheaper labour?

Can the UK government do anything to stop P&O docking at UK Ports?

 

[baz962]

Is this even legal. I thought it was the job that was made redundant and not the person per se. Or can they do it if not UK based.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Is this even legal. I thought it was the job that was made redundant and not the person per se.

Companies can be quite sneaky to work around this, unfortunately.

 

[yoyothehobo]

I am not supporting what they are doing here but as a foreign owned (Dubai) company, with ships registered in Bahamas, Bermuda, Finland and Cyprus what legalities apply here?

Are they deemed to be trespassing as soon as they are dismissed?

Boycotts seem a bit cancel culture dont they...Seriously though boycotts last until people forget what happened last week and find out that they are cheaper than "Proud Britain Shipways" or whatever. P and O currently do have the benefit of sounding like a British company, even though they arent anymore.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Are they deemed to be trespassing as soon as they are dismissed?

Yes. It's usual that when someone is made redundant they are immediately escorted from the premises by security and paid in lieu of notice.

Boycotts seem a bit cancel culture dont they...Seriously though boycotts last until people forget what happened last week and find out that they are cheaper than "Proud Britain Shipways" or whatever. P and O currently do have the benefit of sounding like a British company, even though they arent anymore.

Do DFDS employ UK staff at Dover? The Harwich operation didn't when that existed, they were from the Philippines.

 

[brad465]

Good grief, I really hope that isn’t true. What is this country turning into?!

If this rumour materialises then it shows how bad our unregulated free market economy has become, and why more needs doing for worker's rights. We just have to hope that the phrase "live by the sword, die by the sword" comes to being here, where the same free market allows customers to boycott the company in enough droves to bankrupt it.

 

[AlterEgo]

I am sure maritime law comes into force here, but is there such a thing as trespassing on a ship in the water?

 

[jamesontheroad]

On a recent flight with SAS Scandinavian Airlines from London to Umeå in northern Sweden, I flew with two very different airlines. From London to Stockholm I flew with 'SAS Connect' (formerly SAS Ireland) has an Irish-registered fleet of Airbus A320neo and cabin crew are provided by a staffing company. From Stockholm to Umeå I flew with Xfly, an Estonian airline with Estonian crew and airfcaft who fly for SAS. So this kind of outsourcing of transport staffing (especially in countries with high labour costs) is not unusual.

 

[Trainbike46]

This is terrible news, specifically for all the staff involved. I really hope this disgraceful "fire everyone" thing isn't true

Do DFDS employ UK staff at Dover? The Harwich operation didn't when that existed, they were from the Philippines.

I'm pretty sure Stena Line employ a lot of UK staff on their routes parallel to P&O routes. Does anyone know for sure?

 

[Dai Corner]

If this rumour materialises then it shows how bad our unregulated free market economy has become, and why more needs doing for worker's rights. We just have to hope that the phrase "live by the sword, die by the sword" comes to being here, where the same free market allows customers to boycott the company in enough droves to bankrupt it.

Though the staff freely decided to work for a Dubai-based company. If they wanted European style employment rights they should have chosen an appropriate employer.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

None of the ships involved is registered in the UK.
They are mostly Cyprus-flagged, and Bermuda is in there too - also surprisingly Finland.
That might determine what actions are legal in terms of crewing.
DP World of Dubai is the ultimate owner, and it looks like their future support is dependent on a lower cost base.
Wiki seems to know what's going on, and has already been updated today.

P&O Ferries - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

On 20 February 2019, DP World announced it had repurchased P&O Ferries from Dubai World in a £322m deal.
On 17 March 2022, P&O abruptly suspended its operations, cancelling all sailings and offloading passengers and cargo. P&O will be boycotted.
All staff were made redundant, with the company intending to use cheaper agency staff.