P&O Ferries just made redundant 800 staff

[Kapitan]

Well it’s chaos in Dover as P&O suspends services not to mention other routes

So far they have stated 800 crew have been made redundant due to cost cutting

https://t.co/mkV1Et5mOg

[Jimbuna]

The above link isn't working at my end Blair and it is being reported many crew are refusing to leave their cabins as a means of protest.

Belay that: Link now appears to be good :doh:

[Platapus]

Well, that's capitalism for ya. :nope:

[Catfish]

^ That is 19th century capitalism. Are there no treaties?
"Escorting" them from their ships with handcuffs, seriously? :doh:
And who is this announcer.

[Jimbuna]

A spokesperson for the company confirmed that the business is not “sustainable” in its current form.

“In its current state, P&O Ferries is not a viable business,” they said.

“As part of the process we are starting today, we are providing 800 seafarers with immediate severance notices and will be compensating them for this lack of advance notice with enhanced compensation packages.”

Police have intervened after sacked P&O workers blocked a road leading to the Port of Dover in response to the news.

Dozens of employees who lost their jobs on Thursday stood on the road holding banners and flags saying “Stop the P&O jobs carve up”.

It came after buses carrying agency workers hired to replace them appeared to arrive at the Kent port.

Unions have told members to stage sit-ins onboard P&O vessels.

RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said: “We have instructed our members to remain onboard and are demanding our members across P&O’s UK operations are protected and that the Secretary of State intervenes to save UK seafarers from the dole queue.”

Meanwhile, Mark Dickinson, general secretary of maritime union Nautilus International, said: “Be assured the full resources of Nautilus International stand ready to act in defence of our members.

“We believe it is in our members’ best interests to stay onboard until further notice.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/p-o-ferries-dover-calais-latest-news-suspended-b2037991.html

[August]

So what's to stop the company from ceasing their pay, confiscating their severances for damages and then filing a claim with their insurance company for stolen boats?

[Skybird]

What it comes down to, is this : is the current business model viable, yes or no?

[Rockstar]

What it comes down to, is this : is the current business model viable, yes or no?

According to P&O they was making money. That is until Dubai Ports World bought them in 2019 (again). Maybe the sheikhs don’t like unions.

[Skybird]

According to the article in the Independent that Jim linked to, P&O said the current business model is "not sustainable".

Could be the truth on the economic reality. Could be greed by investors. I cannot judge it. One would need to see the internal numbers of theirs.


Edit:
I do not want to comment on or excuse the fashion in which employees got informed that "today is your last working day". If these reports are true, it is rude, no doubt.


My initial question howerer - greed or economic need - remains valid, however. Germ media say P&O had 120 million Euros/100 million Pound in losses last year alone, that had tpo be comepsnated for by the mother company DB in Dubai. .

[Jimbuna]

According to the article in the Independent that Jim linked to, P&O said the current business model is "not sustainable".

Could be the truth on the economic reality. Could be greed by investors. I cannot judge it. One would need to see the internal numbers of theirs.


Edit:
I do not want to comment on or excuse the fashion in which employees got informed that "today is your last working day". If these reports are true, it is rude, no doubt.


My initial question howerer - greed or economic need - remains valid, however. Germ media say P&O had 120 million Euros/100 million Pound in losses last year alone, that had tpo be comepsnated for by the mother company DB in Dubai. .

Yet it is being reported that dividend payouts to shareholders from the parent company amounted to £270 million.

[Skybird]

If DB paid out 270 million Pounds while getting only 100 million by P&O in profits, they made a loss of 160 million Pounds.

The wrath then should be directed at DB, not P&O.

But opay, I am just curious and from a long distance. I only ju7mped in her because often I see demands that non-profitable companies shoulkd be bept floating as dead bodies in the water, socalled "zombie" companies, mand they have started tio brign all European eocnomy down because during the Corona time their share of the real eocnomy has grown to unsustainable levels.

Non-competitive companies must leave the market - that also is part of ther market. There can be no (state-given) guarantee that every competitor or market participant turns out a winner.



I do not know anything about the British ferry industry, however. But maybe international foreign shareholders and globalization is not that greta an idea at all...? I always was and still am very sceptical about it. Corona confirms me, and foreign investment locusts confirm me as well.

[Jimbuna]

My lad joined a ferry company a few years back and only lasted a week, he was seriously unimpressed.

[Kapitan]

Yet it is being reported that dividend payouts to shareholders from the parent company amounted to £270 million.

Dividend payouts usually happen regardless of profits or losses, its like an interest payment for having money invested in the stock.
The reason i suspect they paid out during a major loss year is to reassure investors that their money was safe in the company.
After all if you didn't pay out and investors sold stock it would create a run or fire sale on the company a bit like Lehman Brothers when their stock started to tank.

My lad joined a ferry company a few years back and only lasted a week, he was seriously unimpressed

Quite surprised at that because the company you talk about seemed quite decent.

[Skybird]

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60881550


Stuck.

[Jimbuna]

Replacement crews first day 'on the job' training.

https://i.postimg.cc/QtVn971X/row-well-and-live.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[Jimbuna]

Who is going to blink first?

The boss of P&O Ferries has been given "one final opportunity" to reemploy sacked staff on their previous salaries by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

In a letter, Mr Shapps again urged Peter Hebblethwaite to reverse his decision to sack 800 seafarers.

If not, he said the government's plans to make it illegal for ferry firms to pay less than the minimum wage, would likely force him to do so.

P&O Ferries said sacking workers was not just about saving money on wages.

"The predicted savings we announced are not solely coming from the reduction in wages, but from removing job duplication and the benefits we will see from increased flexibility," it said.

It said it would welcome the minimum wage rising for all seafaring workers because it would create "a level playing field when it comes to pay and conditions on British ferry routes."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60895833

[August]

Who is going to blink first?


It said it would welcome the minimum wage rising for all seafaring workers because it would create "a level playing field when it comes to pay and conditions on British ferry routes."


Sounds like they are calling his bluff. :)

[Jimbuna]

Sounds like they are calling his bluff. :)

Then they'll probably lose....this government has an eighty seat majority and that usually brings a fair degree of arrogance.

[August]

Then they'll probably lose....this government has an eighty seat majority and that usually brings a fair degree of arrogance.

Yeah but they welcome the governments move. Where is the leverage?

[Jimbuna]

There are rumours their operations licence could be suspended or withdrawn (at the request of the unions) yet the article linked to below makes no mention of it.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/mar/29/po-ferries-grant-shapps-sackings-ferry

[August]

There are rumours their operations licence could be suspended or withdrawn (at the request of the unions) yet the article linked to below makes no mention of it.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/mar/29/po-ferries-grant-shapps-sackings-ferry


:hmmm: I wonder, if their operators license is removed or suspended doesn't that make the rest of the company redundant as well?

[Jimbuna]

:hmmm: I wonder, if their operators license is removed or suspended doesn't that make the rest of the company redundant as well?

Yeah, approximately another 2000 or so.

[August]

Yeah, approximately another 2000 or so.


Wow! Doesn't sound like a wining strategy to me.

[Jimbuna]

Wow! Doesn't sound like a wining strategy to me.

Me neither.

[Kapitan]

Well i can safely say that if they do pull the operating license we know for a fact that 800 of them cant flood the UK job market

A lot of the officers on P&O are Dutch French and other EU countries I don't think there is that many UK officers on board any more either.

Irish ferries did a similar thing only 2 years ago DFDS have done something similar as have stena in the past.

[Jimbuna]

P&O Ferries has said it is preparing to get its Pride of Kent and Spirit of Britain ships back in action on the Dover-Calais route "by next week".

The ferries will need to pass inspections by the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) before services can resume.

There has not yet been any confirmation that the inspections, which can take days, have been booked in.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60993640

[Kapitan]

This isnt good for P&O wonder how much they are hemorrhaging per day

deserved though

[Jimbuna]

Rgr that :yep: