P&O Ferries protestors take to ports across UK to complain over firm’s abrupt sacking of 800 British workers and call on boss to quit
- Protestors have today gathered in Liverpool, Hull and Dover to demand action
- P&O Ferries abruptly sacked 800 British workers and replaced with agency staff
- One ferry has been detained in Northern Ireland after being deemed ‘unfit to sail’
- Demonstrators are demanding ferry firm’s boss Peter Hebblethwaite resign
Protests are taking place at UK ports over the sacking of hundreds of seafarers by P&O Ferries, as calls grow for the company’s boss to quit.
Protestors and union members have gathered at ports in Liverpool, Hull and Dover to blockade the entrances.
Some demonstrators were seen carrying banners saying ‘Save our seafarers’ while others demanded that P&O’s ferries be ‘seized’.
The Trades Union Congress meanwhile shared video showing P&O Ferries dockers in Rotterdam refusing to load freight onto a ferry set for Hull ‘in solidarity with the 800 seafarers illegally sacked by P&O’.
The demonstrations come after a ship operated by the ferry firm was detained for being ‘unfit to sail’ in Northern Ireland.
Protests are taking place at ports in Liverpool, Hull and Dover over the sacking of hundreds of seafarers by P&O Ferries, as calls grow for the company’s boss to quit. Pictured: Protests at the port of Liverpool
Some demonstrators were seen carrying banners saying ‘Save our seafarers’ while others demanded that P&O’s ferries be ‘seized’
Police were seen holding back traffic from attempting to enter the port because of the protests
The company sparked widespread outrage when it sacked almost 800 seafarers earlier this month, and plans to replace them with agency staff on cheaper salaries
The European Causeway vessel has been held at the port of Larne due to ‘failures on crew familiarisation, vessel documentation and crew training’, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said.
The MCA said there were no passengers or freight on board the European Causeway vessel when it was detained.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he will not compromise the safety of P&O vessels and insisted that the company will not be able to rush training for inexperienced people.
The company sparked widespread outrage when it sacked almost 800 seafarers earlier this month, and plans to replace them with agency staff on cheaper salaries.
The European Causeway vessel has been held at the port of Larne due to ‘failures on crew familiarisation, vessel documentation and crew training’, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said.
P&O Ferries chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite this week admitted to MPs that the company ‘chose’ to break the law with the mass summary sacking without consulting unions.
The millionaire boss has been told to resign for the shocking revelation, Commons business committee chair Darren Jones saying he ‘should be fined, struck off and prosecuted’.
Labour has written to Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng asking whether the Government will seek the removal of P&O Ferries’ chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite as a director under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986.
In a letter, the party accused the Government of ‘sitting on their hands’ rather than taking action to hold P&O to account, adding that the ‘toothless response risks giving the green light to exploitation’.
Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said the ‘shameful misconduct of P&O Ferries has ruined livelihoods’ as she called for the sacked workers to be reinstated and for Mr Hebblethwaite to be ‘barred’ as a director for his role in the crisis.
P&O Ferries chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite this week admitted to MPs that the company ‘chose’ to break the law with the mass summary sacking without consulting unions
Prime Minister Boris Johnson backed Mr Shapps’ call for Mr Hebblethwaite to quit.
In Larne, the local mayor of the Mid and East Antrim Council, William McCaughey, said they would support the reinstatement of the staff immediately.
‘It is ridiculous what P&O Ferries has done to the staff, we in Larne would be very keen to see staff reinstated, it is the least that P&O could do,’ he said.
Alliance East Antrim MLA Stewart Dickson welcomed the impounding of the ferry as a safety measure.
‘It’s not like the crew of an airplane getting off one Easyjet and getting on to the next one where the controls are the exactly the same, and everything is in the same place,’ he told PA.
‘No two ships are the same, and you cannot just fly a crew in and expect them to be able to sail a ship.
The RMT union said it welcomed the detention of the European Causeway and it demanded the Government ‘seize the entire fleet’ of P&O vessels
Labour has written to Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng asking whether the Government will seek the removal of P&O Ferries’ chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite as a director under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986
‘Every control will be in a different place, but particularly all those health and safety drills that have to be gone through, everything from lifeboat stations to how each item of equipment operates.
‘It seemed to me it was going to be very difficult for staff to be able to take on that role in such a short period of time.
‘I am absolutely delighted they have (impounded the ship). This isn’t vengeance against P&O [Ferries], it’s about passenger safety and the safety of the crew as well.
The RMT union said it welcomed the detention of the European Causeway and it demanded the Government ‘seize the entire fleet’ of P&O vessels.
A spokesperson for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: ‘We can confirm that the European Causeway has been detained in Larne.
‘It has been detained due to failures on crew familiarisation, vessel documentation and crew training.
‘The vessel will remain under detention until all these issues are resolved by P&O Ferries. Only then will it be reinspected.’
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