P&O Ferries bosses set to escape punishment for mass sackings
Directors at P&O Ferries say they are confident that there will be no financial penalty over the mass sacking of 800 seafarers without notice.
In its latest Companies House filing for the financial year 2021, the Dubai-owned UK ferry operator reveals it is headed back towards profitability as early as this month.
The annual report — seen by the PA news agency and reported by outlets including the Financial Times — says its directors think there is ‘a less than remote possibility’ an ongoing civil inquiry by the UK’s Insolvency Service will result in punishment.
In 2022, the Insolvency Service decided not to launch criminal proceedings against P&O over its sackings.
MT general secretary Mick Lynch told the Financial Times that allowing P&O Ferries and Dubai-based owner DP World “off scott-free is a profoundly dangerous trend for all workers in the UK and anywhere DP World’s subsidiaries operate”
In April 2020, RMT had called for P&O ferries to be nationalised, highlighting that parent company DP World had made a £270m dividend payment to private shareholders, while simultaneously taking over £10m from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to keep 1,400 workers.
There was outrage and protests in March 2022, when P&O Ferries decided to sack 800 crew across its entire fleet with no warning and no consultation. The cost-saving measures were framed by the firm as a last-ditch attempt to save the company, after its losses trebled to £374.5 million, from £103.3 million in 2021.
The mass redundancies were announced via a Zoom video link. Replacement agency workers were in some ports readying to board the ferries soon after the announcement was made.
Seafarers from abroad brought in to replace the sacked crew are being paid as little as £1.80 an hour, unions have said.
Since then, the company has been embroiled in numerous controversies, including a row about an attempt to cut the wages of its already low-paid workforce. In April, RMT wrote to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) raising concerns, after it was reported that a lifeboat had fallen off a P&O vessel using agency crew.
According to the PA news agency, the annual report says: ‘The directors recognise that the actions taken in March 2022 were perceived negatively by sections of the national media and political leaders.
‘The directors maintain that the actions taken were necessary for the long-term financial health of the business and that public sentiment will gradually recover towards the business as it continues to operate in a transparent and compliant manner.’
From January-March 2023, P&O said it carried 45 per cent of passenger ferry crossings between Dover and France.
