P&O Ferries replicates the government : yes, we have been "escorting" crews out of the ships, but everything has happened in terms of the law

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P&O Ferries broke the silence followed by the dismissal of 800 seamen implemented suddenly on Thursday by the shipping company without any prior notice ( of the March 17 2022). Silence that seems to be the common strategy adopted in the Western world by some companies that from one hour to another have forced their employees out of offices and factories to then, immediately after, communicate them the dismissal. A silence that P&O Ferries broke yesterday by responding, four days later, to a letter sent to the company by Hon Kwasi Kwarteng and Paul Scully, Minister and Undersecretary of the Department for Economic Activities, Energy and Strategy industrial, which in the missive had formalized the conviction of the government in London compared to the layoffs made by P&O Ferries and the manner in which they were implemented that had already been expressed verbally to the CEO of the ride-hailing company, Peter Hebblethwaite, from the Undersecretary for Transport, Robert Courts (
In Tuesday's letter, which takes up the contents of an informal note issued by the company earlier this year, Hebblethwaite highlighted the essential role of P&O Ferries in maintaining supply chains. enabling the growth of both tourism and trade in the UK, and has specified in recent times the activity of the company has generated significant losses and has become unsustainable. " In order to survive and safeguard the future of P&O Ferries-Hebblethwaite wrote-we have had to make significant changes to the way we operate. Therefore, we have decided to restructure the component of the crews in order to ensure that we can continue to serve these trade routes that are vital to the UK economy. "

In the letter, the CEO of P&O Ferries assured that the dismissal of the seafarers was an extrema ratio that was adopted, without prior communications to employees, neither to the social partners nor to the institutions. "We know that for our staff this dismissal took place without prior notice or prior consultation, and we are painfully aware that this has caused them and their families to be anguished," Hebblethwaite said. Restructuring our workforce in this way-Hebblethwaite assured-is a course of action that we would never have wanted to follow as a company : we did it as a last resort and only-it still guaranteed the CEO of P&O Ferries-after taking in consideration all other possibilities. In the end we concluded that the activity, simply, would not have survived without a substantial change in the organization of the crews that allowed us to align ourselves with the vast majority of other maritime operators international, which in turn would inevitably have entailed redundancies. We have not seen other viable ways to preserve our iconic British business, saving the remaining 2,200 jobs that guarantees and safeguarding 15% percent of the UK's trade capacity that it supports. "

Hebblethwaite stressed that the 786 fired the company offered "a very generous compensation package". The CEO said that " so far 575 of these people have been activated to accept the terms of the end report offered and-he specified-part of these is made up of people who have also taken steps to accept the job offer of the new company recruiting the crews. "

In addition, Hebblethwaite wanted to punctuate the modalities decided by the company to induce, or-depending on how its words are interpreted-to force the seafarers to step down from the ships. The CEO pointed out that no security guards were employed with handcuffs or tasers and that the layoffs were not communicated via Zoom with pre-recorded messages. "First of all, the teams that accompanied the seafarers in leaving our ships have been totally professional in dealing with this difficult task with all the sensitivity and sensitivity," said Hebblethwaite, the government's chief of staff. appropriate competence. Contrary to what is being said, no one among our staff was wearing passamontagna nor had they been ordered to use handcuffs or force. Instead they remained professional, understanding and serene in a demanding situation for everyone, trying to ensure the safety of all people on board. In the second place, P&O Ferries also made every effort to ensure, as far as possible, that everyone received the news directly on the day of the restructuring and not indirectly through other dismissed colleagues or through others. That day all the affected crews who were working were informed to quirt eyes and in person on board their ships. For the crews who were at rest, virtual meetings were held, but only 261 of the 400 people at rest were involved in these calls. The persons concerned were also contacted individually by telephone, as well as by e-mail and SMS, with letters of dismissal and end-of-report terms that were also shared via courier and e-mail. "

Concluding the letter Hebblethwaite argued, cutting short, that P&O Ferries did not violate any laws by acting as it acted and by communicating its initiative to the competent authorities on March 17, 2022, the very day in which it was put in place.

A letter, therefore, in which P&O Ferries rejects any wrongdoing, while confirming the decisive and abrupt execution mode of the layoffs that was implemented while the company's crews were being "escorted" out of their ships. The final message to the government, however, is clear : we have not violated any law, " P&O Ferries said. So far the government has made accusations to the company about the ways in which this "restructuring" has been put in place. Now London will have to decide whether to take note of the situation or impose on P&O Ferries a change in strategy.