“I will thank P&O, because their hateful act has caused embarrassment and shame to the government. And [ministers] they had to act. “ For years, shipping companies have been exploiting the loophole in labor law that allows them to pay below the minimum wage. Irish Ferries, for example, has been accused of doing just that for quite some time now, having relocated its ferries to Cyprus 16 years ago. He is not alone. Condor Ferries, which operates between the UK and the Channel Islands, has been repeatedly criticized by union leaders for refusing to pay the minimum wage when it was owned by Australian investor Macquarie. Another is CLdN Cobelfret, which specializes in roll-on-roll freight services. P&O, Dover’s competitor DFDS, and Stena Line took a different approach, mainly agreeing to pay the minimum wage. But that was until the beginning of this month. Now DFDS and Stena seem more and more isolated. However, both operators have used this to their advantage, incorporating Shapps’s paradigm shift plans. And there is a solid commercial logic to that. “It will bring the rest of the industry at the same cost as it [DFDS and Stena Line]”just above the minimum wage,” says one industry expert. Peter Hebblethwaite, CEO of P&O Ferries, reflected the sentiment of much of the ferry industry in a letter to the chair of the Commons Business and Transportation Committee released Monday. “We have considered all the options available to the business, including whether we should proceed with this fundamental change of crew model. “Restructuring our workforce in this way was not a course of action we ever wanted to take as an organization, but it was a necessary step to ensure the future viability of the business,” he wrote. A large number of smaller carriers in UK ports that were able to take advantage of shipping laws and not pay the minimum wage are now looking on nervously. The situation could be catastrophic for many of them. Faced with a large increase in their cost base from almost doubling staff costs, balancing the books could prove impossible. And they may find it difficult to focus on Epirus. Ministry of Transport officials are also seen working closely with their counterparts in Paris, The Hague and Dublin. “It’s not going to be just UK waters. The French, Dutch and Irish are on their side. It will be like that for the whole trip “, says a person with knowledge of the discussions. “The French, the Dutch and the Irish will also align their legislation.” Shapps gave Hebblethwaite “one last chance” to reverse the layoffs. That way, it’s your last chance to skewer the rest of the industry. With the signatures of its owners in Dubai, Whitehall sources are not optimistic that P&O will back down in its plans. Talks between the DFDS, Stena Line and the government, meanwhile, will continue on Tuesday with Shapps paving the way for Robert Courts, his junior minister. People close to them said that although “progress has been made”, the situation is full of complexity. If P&O remains stable, there will be chaos in the ports as Britain prepares for the big Easter getaway later this week. P&O usually transports about 10,000 people a day from Dover to France during the holidays. An obvious softening of P&O’s stance on Monday night could be more than just the operator playing politics. “We fully welcome the government’s commitment to raise the minimum wage for all seafarers working in British waters,” said a spokesman. “From the beginning we have been calling for a level playing field in terms of wages and conditions on British ferries.” The net is tightening, not only for P&O, but also for the wider ferry industry that Turner and his father have crammed into for decades.
