Topic: P&O

[Son of Spion]

Tory behaviour by P & O. 

[Nobby Reserve]

It seems like Grant Shapps and Kwasi Kwarteng have written strongly worded letters to a man who resigned as P&O chairman on 16th December 2021...

https://twitter.com/joepike/status/1504868192312872966?s=20&t=6sQAlRht54zqtfH0WKgVzQ


FFS. Grant 'two names' Schapps is such a moron. Kwarteng is thick as pigshit.

[BarryCrocker]

I don't think there's an answer to the following question: Did a) they tell the Business Secretary, meaning they knew or b) decide not to bother and just to take the fine and reputational damage.

They'll take the fine (whatever that is) as it would have been calculated that its less than the savings. As for reputational damage, this will be easily forgotten. Plus what are the other shipping options for people who use these services? Are exporters, transport companies, driving tourists going to stop doing using them? Unfortunately, I think not.

Abhorrent behaviour.

[oldfordie]

Lets see what happens, same as the past I imagine, Labour will promise to give workers more rights and security,  Tory's and bosses will say this will make it harder for us to get rid of workers to keep our company viable so Labours new laws will deter us from hiring new workers. all the people who think none of this will effect them as they think their jobs are safe will probably agree with the Torys.

[Circa1892]

It's alright everyone. The government have sent a strongly worded letter to P&O Chairman....

Only problem is they sent the letter to the P&O Chairman who resigned last year

You’d be amazed how many people it takes to get a Ministerial letter written. This will have been signed off by multiple people across Departments - including Cabinet Office and No10.

And it’s wrong…

[Andy @ Allerton!]

So P&O have pulled a right incendiary Capitalist cracker out of the hat here eh? Violated every reasonable Industrial Relations  consultation etiquette in the book - having not too long ago begged for - and been given - £10 millions of our tax payments to "assist" them. It's a wonder that their CEO isn't dragged before the courts or indeed Parliament for this disgraceful behaviour.
 
Parliament MUST pass emergency legislation that reverses this outrage - specifically in cases where there's been ZERO consultation!! Fire and re-hire with cheap imported agency staffs? Fuck off!! This hasn't just "happened" ! P&O MUST have been at this underhanded shite behind closed doors for many many weeks before their cringeworthy and bloody cowardly big video announcement!! Never trust a Tory!! They'll shake your hand blue eyed and smiling - then stab you with the other! How low has our country sunk FFS?

Brexit. They literally voted for it.

[TSC]

It's alright everyone. The government have sent a strongly worded letter to P&O Chairman....

Only problem is they sent the letter to the P&O Chairman who resigned last year

Consistently incompetent

[SouthDerryLaggo]

They'll take the fine (whatever that is) as it would have been calculated that its less than the savings. As for reputational damage, this will be easily forgotten. Plus what are the other shipping options for people who use these services? Are exporters, transport companies, driving tourists going to stop doing using them? Unfortunately, I think not.

Abhorrent behaviour.

Stena line from cairnryan to Belfast is what I use. dread to see what happens now with prices etc its already very expensive

[Redknight60]

I was one of the 800 who was sacked on Thursday. Notified by the recorderd message at 11am and off the ship and on the way home by 2pm. Worked for them for over ten years, many others onboard their whole careers. Still doesn't really seem real.

Our CEO used to mention in basically every meeting he took that he 'knew nothing about ships' and he's proved it with this move. Not a single technical officer on our ship was retained to hand over to the new crew waiting in the car park. Crazy for any ship, but for one that may carry over 1000 passengers, it's absolute madness. If they do follow through with their plan to have the ships sail in the next week, they will be very fortunate not to have a major incident.

[Elmo!]

I was one of the 800 who was sacked on Thursday. Notified by the recorderd message at 11am and off the ship and on the way home by 2pm. Worked for them for over ten years, many others onboard their whole careers. Still doesn't really seem real.

Our CEO used to mention in basically every meeting he took that he 'knew nothing about ships' and he's proved it with this move. Not a single technical officer on our ship was retained to hand over to the new crew waiting in the car park. Crazy for any ship, but for one that may carry over 1000 passengers, it's absolute madness. If they do follow through with their plan to have the ships sail in the next week, they will be very fortunate not to have a major incident.

Sorry to hear about you losing your job. I know nothing about shipping, but I work in oil and I know that our clients really value the crew of our rigs as much as the rig itself. They will often choose to keep one rig over taking another that is technically superior because they know the crew of the rig and know it will do a good job. When we have a rig shutdown for a while and then reactivated with a new crew, it is inevitable that it is a bit of a shitshow for a while as no one knows the rig like the back of their hand. I imagine there are similarities with shipping.

[lobsterboy]

I was one of the 800 who was sacked on Thursday. Notified by the recorderd message at 11am and off the ship and on the way home by 2pm. Worked for them for over ten years, many others onboard their whole careers. Still doesn't really seem real.

Our CEO used to mention in basically every meeting he took that he 'knew nothing about ships' and he's proved it with this move. Not a single technical officer on our ship was retained to hand over to the new crew waiting in the car park. Crazy for any ship, but for one that may carry over 1000 passengers, it's absolute madness. If they do follow through with their plan to have the ships sail in the next week, they will be very fortunate not to have a major incident.

So sorry to hear that man, I wish you all the best.
I despair at what is being done to our nation by this bunch of vile bastards and their supporters.

[BarryCrocker]

Imagine if the Irish refused to allow it dock.

P&O resumes Liverpool-Dublin service as government reviews contracts

Tory party co-chair voices ‘revulsion’ at ferry company’s actions after 800 staff replaced with agency workers

P&O crossings between Liverpool and Dublin resumed on Saturday afternoon, two days after the ferry company suspended services when it sacked 800 staff and brought in replacement agency workers.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/mar/19/uk-government-reviewing-its-po-ferries-contracts-after-staff-sackings

[Andy @ Allerton!]

I was one of the 800 who was sacked on Thursday. Notified by the recorderd message at 11am and off the ship and on the way home by 2pm. Worked for them for over ten years, many others onboard their whole careers. Still doesn't really seem real.

Our CEO used to mention in basically every meeting he took that he 'knew nothing about ships' and he's proved it with this move. Not a single technical officer on our ship was retained to hand over to the new crew waiting in the car park. Crazy for any ship, but for one that may carry over 1000 passengers, it's absolute madness. If they do follow through with their plan to have the ships sail in the next week, they will be very fortunate not to have a major incident.

Sorry to hear that

Must be terrible

Is there any chance there is anything else going?

[Redknight60]

Sorry to hear that

Must be terrible

Is there any chance there is anything else going?

Thanks all. Hopefully something else will crop up. We had 2 prior rounds of redundancies through the pandemic and most of the guys that went found something fairly quickly so thats positive.

[Snail]

I was one of the 800 who was sacked on Thursday. Notified by the recorderd message at 11am and off the ship and on the way home by 2pm. Worked for them for over ten years, many others onboard their whole careers. Still doesn't really seem real.

Our CEO used to mention in basically every meeting he took that he 'knew nothing about ships' and he's proved it with this move. Not a single technical officer on our ship was retained to hand over to the new crew waiting in the car park. Crazy for any ship, but for one that may carry over 1000 passengers, it's absolute madness. If they do follow through with their plan to have the ships sail in the next week, they will be very fortunate not to have a major incident.

Solidarity mate.

[TSC]

Sadly no surprise from this government

https://news.sky.com/story/p-o-ferries-whitehall-memo-tried-to-justify-sacking-of-800-workers-says-newspaper-12570945

[Fortneef]

I was one of the 800 who was sacked on Thursday. Notified by the recorderd message at 11am and off the ship and on the way home by 2pm. Worked for them for over ten years, many others onboard their whole careers. Still doesn't really seem real.

Our CEO used to mention in basically every meeting he took that he 'knew nothing about ships' and he's proved it with this move. Not a single technical officer on our ship was retained to hand over to the new crew waiting in the car park. Crazy for any ship, but for one that may carry over 1000 passengers, it's absolute madness. If they do follow through with their plan to have the ships sail in the next week, they will be very fortunate not to have a major incident.

Sorry that fiucking sucks.

Can i ask a very stupid question. How long do rhe crew stay onboard?  Eg is it a couuple of days on/off, or weeks, or months?  And is P&Os long term plan to put philippinos and indians onboard for up to 11 months at a time?

[Nobby Reserve]

Labour have cleverly resurrected their Bill to ban 'fire and rehire', and a vote is due to take place today.

Either the Tories vote for a ban on 'fire and rehire' and workers get better rights, or they give Labour a huge opening to exploit - to reawaken the narrative that the Tories don't care about ordinary working people and only consider their rich business chums and patrons.

[Yorkykopite]

Labour have cleverly resurrected their Bill to ban 'fire and rehire', and a vote is due to take place today.

Either the Tories vote for a ban on 'fire and rehire' and workers get better rights, or they give Labour a huge opening to exploit - to reawaken the narrative that the Tories don't care about ordinary working people and only consider their rich business chums and patrons.

That's good.

Do the Tories recognise the value of trade unions or do they want to go back to the early 19th century? Sacking people on the spot and hiring scab labour?

[Redknight60]

Sorry that fiucking sucks.

Can i ask a very stupid question. How long do rhe crew stay onboard?  Eg is it a couuple of days on/off, or weeks, or months?  And is P&Os long term plan to put philippinos and indians onboard for up to 11 months at a time?

Thanks, varies ship to ship. The channel ferries generally had crew on a week on week off rotation as the crew tended to mostly be local to the area. Other sectors were 2 weeks on 2 off.

I don't know what the long term plan is. The adverts I have seen for the agency crews that came in showed a decent rate and I understand there were some British recruited for it(although some of them turned around when they realised what was happening).

I'd guess once all our settlements are through and the dust settles, they will bin off the agency crews they have now and crew the ships with cheap foreign crews.

[Nobby Reserve]

That's good.

Do the Tories recognise the value of trade unions or do they want to go back to the early 19th century? Sacking people on the spot and hiring scab labour?

Publicly condemn, for electoral reasons
Privately have it as a wank-fantasy

[KillieRed]

Stena line from cairnryan to Belfast is what I use. dread to see what happens now with prices etc its already very expensive

Coming over for one of my regular holidays in Donegal in the summer. I couldnt believe the increase in prices for 5 people & car from the last time i was over. Stena has always been my choice because they went straight into Belfast instead of the wacky races from Larne and frankly they`ve had a much better, modern service for a long time.

[KillieRed]

I was one of the 800 who was sacked on Thursday. Notified by the recorderd message at 11am and off the ship and on the way home by 2pm. Worked for them for over ten years, many others onboard their whole careers. Still doesn't really seem real.

Our CEO used to mention in basically every meeting he took that he 'knew nothing about ships' and he's proved it with this move. Not a single technical officer on our ship was retained to hand over to the new crew waiting in the car park. Crazy for any ship, but for one that may carry over 1000 passengers, it's absolute madness. If they do follow through with their plan to have the ships sail in the next week, they will be very fortunate not to have a major incident.

Sorry to hear about your personal circumstance, frankly it`s a disgrace and a nightmare for anyone who might be in a similar situation. I`m kinda worried about the precedent of all of this, and it has some echoes from my youth of miners being replaced by cheaper "scabs". Do you think there will be safety issues arising from these replacement workers taking over the jobs of long-term employees?

[So… Howard Philips]

That's good.

Do the Tories recognise the value of trade unions or do they want to go back to the early 19th century? Sacking people on the spot and hiring scab labour?

The simple answer would be yes but doesn’t Rees -Mogg think British workers should have the same rights as those in the third world?

[PaulF]

Brexit. They literally voted for it.

I thought I read somewhere on RAWK that French (well EU) staff were protected from this happening. Or did I just dream that?

[PaulF]

Sorry to hear about your personal circumstance, frankly it`s a disgrace and a nightmare for anyone who might be in a similar situation. I`m kinda worried about the precedent of all of this, and it has some echoes from my youth of miners being replaced by cheaper "scabs". Do you think there will be safety issues arising from these replacement workers taking over the jobs of long-term employees?

It's only poor people like us that use ferries. So I doubt the bosses or the government care.

[So… Howard Philips]

I thought I read somewhere on RAWK that French (well EU) staff were protected from this happening. Or did I just dream that?

Do it to French staff and they’d blockade the ports.

[Crosby Nick]

Coming over for one of my regular holidays in Donegal in the summer. I couldnt believe the increase in prices for 5 people & car from the last time i was over. Stena has always been my choice because they went straight into Belfast instead of the wacky races from Larne and frankly they`ve had a much better, modern service for a long time.

Ha we always get the ferry to Larne as we head up the coast from there but will be using Stenna this summer.

[thaddeus]

I finally managed to cancel our crossing to France in April.  I had to eventually agree to pay a cancellation fee after initially being told they were going to withhold all the money.  We're paying more now to use the Chunnel but not a single further penny will be going to P&O (or British Gas!).

My view is a bit clouded by the ongoing hangover of Brexit and over a decade of an ever-worsening Tory party but it really feels like the UK has hammered the accelerator in the race to the bottom.

[Yorkykopite]

The simple answer would be yes but doesn’t Rees -Mogg think British workers should have the same rights as those in the third world?

Yes he does.

The trouble is the Red Wall does not want that.

Time for those voters to be reminded which party is the friend of the working man and woman.

[PaulF]

I finally managed to cancel our crossing to France in April.  I had to eventually agree to pay a cancellation fee after initially being told they were going to withhold all the money.  We're paying more now to use the Chunnel but not a single further penny will be going to P&O (or British Gas!).

My view is a bit clouded by the ongoing hangover of Brexit and over a decade of an ever-worsening Tory party but it really feels like the UK has hammered the accelerator in the race to the bottom.

What have British Gas done ?

[gazzalfc]

What have British Gas done ?

Fired and rehired their engineers on worse terms

[CraigDS]

See the Union is claiming at least some of the agency staff are on £1.81 an hour.

[PaulF]

Fired and rehired their engineers on worse terms

That's shitty too. I wouldn't go with them again as massively overpriced. But won't even be tempted to look now.

[stanleyparkmudonmyboots]

Anybody watch the select committee? The boss of a British company openly admitting they knew they were breaking the law by sacking thier staff in the manner they did. It was the only way he said. A man in charge who clearly does not know the details of the operations of his company, workers in France and Netherlands treated differently. Making incorrect statements to the committee about the operation of his company, a man who is on £325,000 a year, who won't say whether he will be taking his bonus. If the government do nothing, then they truly are contemptible.

[Nobby Reserve]

Anybody watch the select committee? The boss of a British company openly admitting they knew they were breaking the law by sacking thier staff in the manner they did. It was the only way he said. A man in charge who clearly does not know the details of the operations of his company, workers in France and Netherlands treated differently. Making incorrect statements to the committee about the operation of his company, a man who is on £325,000 a year, who won't say whether he will be taking his bonus. If the government do nothing, then they truly are contemptible.

The government are already contemptible, and they will do nothing beyond some tokenism to delude the bellend plebs who voted for them

[oldfordie]

The government are already contemptible, and they will do nothing beyond some tokenism to delude the bellend plebs who voted for them

Wouldn't be surprised if Reece-Mogg pops up with some of his usual spin view. must remind him of old times.
Something on the lines of UK Companies must have the freedom to run their companies without government interference. we are not living under the thumb of the EU now. we are a free country. we can now do as we please.

[Thepooloflife]

Johnson pushed back on Starmer at pmq's yesterday saying the govt will take the company to court......don't hold your breath.

Appalling what's happened and feel sorry for all the staff who've been sacked - Tories have allowed this sort of behaviour to fester for years. Similar thing happened to 500 Liverpool dockers in the mid 90's when they were sacked following a dispute (although the dispute lasted over 2 years even after Labour were elected in '97).

At least Starmer called it out yesterday - but, this callous bunch of twats will just spout how they've '...increased the living wage to record levels...'

[oldfordie]

Johnson pushed back on Starmer at pmq's yesterday saying the govt will take the company to court......don't hold your breath.

Appalling what's happened and feel sorry for all the staff who've been sacked - Tories have allowed this sort of behaviour to fester for years. Similar thing happened to 500 Liverpool dockers in the mid 90's when they were sacked following a dispute (although the dispute lasted over 2 years even after Labour were elected in '97).

At least Starmer called it out yesterday - but, this callous bunch of twats will just spout how they've '...increased the living wage to record levels...'

Hard to believe but bosses who behaved like P&0 were admired during the Thatcher period, hatchet men who were brought in to shut down companies and chop the work force to the bone so the reaction to these P&O sackings is good.If this was accepted as something other companies may have to do to survive as it was in the 80s then the UK workers future would be even bleaker.

[Thepooloflife]

Hard to believe but bosses who behaved like P&0 were admired during the Thatcher period, hatchet men who were brought in to shut down companies and chop the work force to the bone so the reaction to these P&O sackings is good.If this was accepted as something other companies may have to do to survive as it was in the 80s then the UK workers future would be even bleaker.

Agree with you - as Starmer said yesterday, if P&O get away with this it'll be the green light for other shipping lines and other industries to follow suit.....which may happen anyway.