P&O Ferries has said the “difficult decision” to sack 800 staff on the spot was made as a “last resort” – and again insisted the business would not have survived otherwise.
In a new statement, the travel company said it “understood” the “distress” its decision will have caused and felt that “reaching agreement on the way forward” was “impossible”.
Following fierce criticism – including from Downing Street – the firm added it had made “all efforts” to notify workers personally of their redundancy and had acted in “good faith”.
“Contrary to rumours, none of our people wore balaclavas nor were they directed to use handcuffs nor force,” it said.
But Gary Jackson from the RMT union, who was on the Pride of Hull ferry when the news broke, told Sky News he had “photographic evidence of people in a minibus with balaclavas on”.
“You could see they had handcuffs on their belts as well,” he added.
The RMT’s general secretary is consulting with a QC to look at legal options, Mr Jackson said.
Protesters outside the P&O Ferries building in Hull on Friday
Confusion over minister’s letter to P&O ‘chairman’
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has addressed a letter to a Robert Woods about the issue, but Sky News has learned that he resigned as chairman of the company last year.
In the letter, Mr Kwarteng said there are “clear rules around the processes that employers must follow if they are making large groups of staff redundant”.
He added that P&O Ferries “appears to have failed to follow” that process, which includes “carrying out consultation with trade union or elected employee representatives”
Mr Kwarteng said companies should also, in advance of those consultations, notify the secretary of state via the Insolvency Service and the Redundancy Payment Service.
Mr Woods, a current board member of P&O’s parent company DP World, told Sky News he regretted the job losses, however the firm was “in a very poor financial situation, and it had to do this to save the ship”.
Just over an hour later, Mr Kwarteng posted a new edition of his letter addressed to “Peter Hebblethwaite, CEO of P&O Ferries”.
P&O insists many workers were told face-to-face
P&O received widespread condemnation for the manner of the sackings, having seemingly been made via a video message recorded in advance.
But in its new statement, the company said: “All affected crew who were working yesterday were notified face-to-face and in-person on board their vessels.
“For crew who were off, P&O Ferries made all efforts to notify them personally: they were individually called on the phone, as well as via email and text.”
It added, however: “We know that for our staff this redundancy came without warning or prior consultation, and we fully understand that this has caused distress for them and their families.”
It said the “difficult decision” was taken as a “last resort”, having concluded the business “wouldn’t survive without fundamentally changed crewing arrangements, which in turn would inevitably result in redundancies”.
The ferry operator has cancelled all its services for the next few days and travellers have been advised to make alternative arrangements.
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‘Your final day of employment is today’
What can the government do about it?
Downing Street has warned of “ramifications” after the staff were replaced with cheaper agency workers.
The government is looking “very closely at the actions this company has taken” to see whether it “acted within the rules”, the prime minister’s spokesman said.
He continued: “Once we have concluded that, we will decide what the ramifications are. Obviously there are a lot of valid questions in relation to existing contracts, etc.”
Once the details have been examined, ministers will “set out any further steps”, he added.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News it’s “not too late” for the company to consult with workers.
Meanwhile, Labour is urging the government to review “any and every contract and licence (it has) with P&O or (parent company) DP World”.
Read more: Ian King on why the company has taken the axe to its workforce again
P&O Ferries’ Spirit of Britain in Dover on Friday morning
‘Body blow for our community’
Natalie Elphicke, Conservative MP for Dover, said the company had made a “compete U-turn”.
She told Sky News: “There was a substantial restructure in the last two years and I worked with the RMT and (other) unions to make sure there was a fresh arrangement which was to secure the long-standing position of workers here in Dover.
“So the action they have taken is a complete U-turn, a complete undermining of all the assurances that have been given.”
She added P&O Ferries is at the “heart of this community and the way the workers have been treated is appalling”.
Three quarters of those affected – everyone from captains to check-in staff – are from Dover, and it has been a “body blow for our community”, Ms Elphicke said.
The company said those affected will be served with “enhanced” severance packages, calling the move “necessary” to protect its remaining 2,200 employees.
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