I’m pleased to have signed an Early Day Motion on P&O Ferries and their owners DP World condemning their disgraceful decision to fire 800 staff without notice or consultation with workers or their trade unions. 

This shocking decision will replace experienced existing staff with agency workers on as little as £1.80 per hour, while this morning P&O Ferries boss Peter Hebblethwaite revealed in Parliament he earns a basic £325,000 a year plus two performance-related bonuses. He also stated that the mass sackings, which saw P&O hire private security guards to remove seafarers from their place of work, broke the law. It’s a decision he says he would make again.

The arrogance of P&O’s boss appearing before Parliament and admitting he knew that his actions were illegal is staggering. That he would repeat them is even more so. Hebblethwaite admitted breaking the law and there must be action taken against him. Already one of P&O’s ferries has been impounded in Northern Ireland as it was ‘unfit to sail’ due to failures on crew familiarisation, vessel documentation and crew training. The company have disgracefully dumped decades of experience for agency staff who are literally not up to the job and today it turns out that P&O’s job advert says “no experience necessary” for applicants.

The Bill calls on the government to suspend the licenses and contracts of DP World and remove them from the Government’s Transport Advisory Group. We are also calling for an urgent Bill to outlaw fire and rehire and strengthen workers’ rights. 

You can read the EDM here: 👇

https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/59623/po-ferries-and-dp-world