Following a week of intense criticism, P&O Ferries chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite has apologised to the nearly 800 seafarers he sacked last Thursday.
But the DP World-owned company appears determined to stick with its plan to replace the crew members with cheaper agency staff on its ships.
In a statement, Hebblethwaite said: “I want to say sorry to the people affected and their families for the impact it’s had on them, and also to the 2,200 people who still work for P&O and will have been asked a lot of difficult questions about this.”
Hebblethwaite said he has been speaking face to face with seafarers and their partners in recent days.
“They’ve lost their jobs and there is anger and shock, and I completely understand,” he added.
But he reiterated that fundamental change is needed to make the loss-making ropax company viable.
“This was an incredibly difficult decision that we wrestled with, but once we knew it was the only way to save the business, we had to act,” he said.
“All other routes led to the closure of P&O Ferries. I wish there was another way, and I’m sorry.”
The company may yet face legal action over the redundancies despite revealing a £36.5m ($48.4m) payout to the workers affected.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday: “Under section 194 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act of 1992, it looks to me as though the company concerned has broken the law.
“And we will be taking action, therefore, and we will be encouraging workers themselves to take action under the 1996 Employment Rights Act.”
Difference of legal opinions
David Ashmore, employment law partner at global law firm Reed Smith, said there are punitive financial sanctions for non-compliance with the requirement to notify trade unions and consult.
“For UK-based staff, it is hard to see how there would be any defence to this if there has been no prior warning at all of the dismissals,” he added.
“In certain situations, it may cost less for an organisation to pay the penalty costs than to comply with the legal requirements, but recent events have shown that the reputational damage can be very high.”
However, Tim Tyndall, employment partner at Keystone Law, told the BBC the law had changed in 2018 due to the implementation of an EU directive.
Firms no longer need to inform the government about mass dismissals but instead must tell the governments of the countries where ships are registered, he said.
Eight foreign-flag ferries
Eight P&O Ferries vessels are registered overseas in countries including Cyprus and the Bahamas.
“The obligation to notify the government of P&O actions has not been breached, as the competent authority for these foreign-registered ships is the government of where they are registered,” Tyndall argued.
Seafarers union Nautilus International believes UK law was broken because P&O did not notify the relevant flag states of its decision to sack workers.
“We believe the government must penalise P&O Ferries for their omission,” said general secretary Mark Dickinson.
