The entire crew of P&O Ferries working under British contracts issued by Jersey was fired on March 17 to be replaced by cheap laborers. The company gave the laid-off workers a deadline of 5pm on Thursday to accept or lose a payment that they said was compensation for violating their labor rights. The company said early Thursday afternoon that all but one unidentified crew member had been involved in the dismissal process. The offer included a silencing clause that barred the fired crew from discussing P&O or taking further legal action. The promised payments are understood to be higher than staff could have earned if they had sued in the industrial court. While the government unveiled proposals to strengthen the Shipping Employment Act this week, including legislation that would oblige all UK port operators to pay a minimum wage, there was growing frustration with possible enforcement action. A spokesman for the Nautilus union, which accounted for about a third of the sacked crew, said: “P&O has succeeded. There is no fine, there is no legal action, there are only words and hot air “. They added: “What we are really looking for now is systemic change, so that can never happen again.” Ministers ignored MPs’ calls for other sanctions, such as the exclusion of P&O Ferries owner DP World from operating new freeports in the United Kingdom. The Dubai-based group is set to benefit from tax breaks of around 50 50 million, playing a leading role in creating two freeports at London Gateway and Southampton. Labor also demanded answers from the State Department about a $ 720 million (8 548 million) investment in DP World ports in Africa, using development aid money. Shadow minister Preet Kaur Gill wrote to Liz Truss to express Labor concerns about the use of “taxpayer money to subsidize the business of a company that treats British workers with such contempt”. The RMT union promised to continue the fight, but a spokesman said the fired P&O Ferries members “had a gun in their head” as Thursday expired, as they could lose all severance pay. Ministers had encouraged individual employees to take the company to court, but the government backed down from its own commitment to legal action after P&O chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite admitted to deliberately violating labor law. Boris Johnson told parliament last week: “We will take them to court, we will defend the rights of British workers; P&O obviously is not going to get away with it.” However, on Wednesday, the transport secretary admitted: “The government is not in a position to take legal action.” Grant Shapps said he had asked the Insolvency Service to consider excluding Hebblethwaite for breach of the law, but added: “Of course, it is up to the Insolvency Service to decide what happens next.” Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng had initially warned P&O that it could face an unlimited fine after asking the Insolvency Service to investigate. A government spokesman said on Thursday: “No decision has been made yet, but we will not hesitate to take further action if we find evidence of wrongdoing.” The Labor Party said the government’s stance was “bewildered”. The shadow transport secretary, Louise Haigh, said the P&O escape without consequences would “give the green light to the bad bosses across the country”. Haigh added: “The government should throw the book at P&O Ferries. Their reluctance to use every tool at their disposal to hold P&O Ferries accountable is confusing. “Ministers must ensure that the CEO and those responsible are prosecuted for their illegal activities and explain why the legal measures promised to the employees are not being taken.” MM Lynch, RMT’s general secretary, said: “They have said they will take legal action against P&O and we are holding them back. Why do they think they are still fit and appropriate to have a public role in freeports or whatever? “We believe that sanctions should be imposed in the same way that Russian oligarchs have been sanctioned.” While unions and many lawmakers remained supporters of the government’s proposals to tackle low wages in the sector, an issue that had long been neglected, there was growing frustration as a critical part of the Shapps plan was deemed unworkable. The transport secretary told parliament that the government would write to British port operators telling them to deny access to companies that did not pay the UK minimum interest rate. However, the British Ports Association immediately warned that waiting for port authorities to impose such rules “would be impossible” and “would put ports in a difficult legal position”. Major Ports Group CEO Tim Morris told BBC Today: “What is being proposed here is very different from normal good practice; a specific legal duty, an obligation, to ensure that another company complies with the labor law. legislation. “We are not police, we are not law enforcement agencies.” P&O Ferries passengers from Dover, Hull, Larne and Cairnryan were not expected to resume their journeys for several days, with two ships failing inspections as the replacement crew boarded.
