On the third anniversary of the P&O Ferries scandal, the TUC, Nautilus and RMT have acknowledged that the government has made important strides to stop another P&O Ferries scandal from happening through the Employment Rights Bill.

However, the unions are calling for more to be done to prevent unscrupulous employers such as P&O Ferries from treating staff like “disposable labour”.

Three years ago today, nearly 800 seafarers were unlawfully sacked by P&O Ferries with no notice or consultation.

The unions accused the Conservatives of responding inadequately to the mass redundancies and employment of agency staff on minimal rates of pay.

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The Employment Rights Bill, which passed its third reading in the House of Commons last week, however, will help close legal loopholes exploited by P&O Ferries, says the TUC.

It has achieved this by:

• Beefing up collective dismissal laws: The government will close a loophole exploited by P&O Ferries by toughening the collective redundancy notification requirements for operators of foreign-flagged vessels. It means operators planning to dismiss 20 or more employees will first be legally required to notify the government.
• Bolstering fire and rehire protections: The Bill includes a measure that will help to tackle fire and rehire practices except where employers genuinely have no alternative and face insolvency. The government is also doubling the maximum protective award which can be awarded to employees by employment tribunals to discourage employers who are looking to “price in” sackings. Maritime unions continue to press government on how the measures against fire and replacement will apply to seafarers.
• Strengthening seafarers’ working conditions: Government amendments to the Bill create the powers to set higher employment and welfare conditions for seafarers with regular UK port calls on pay, hours of work and rest and wider conditions.

The Seafarers Wages Act also came into force last December, which already requires most ferry operators to pay their seafarers with regular UK port calls at least the equivalent of the UK national minimum wage.

However, the unions believe more must be done. Further measures could include: pre-emptive legal action to “injunct” employers to block them from dismissing workers and from breaking the law; and strengthening seafarer employment conditions to include sick pay, holiday pay, training and pension rights.

We have to prevent the exploitation of seafarers in our waters and redouble efforts to deliver high quality training and employment for our maritime professionals” – Mark Dickinson, Nautilus

Also on unions’ radar are the threshold measures that initially apply to services that visit UK ports 120 times a year, regardless of the flag of the ship or of the crew’s nationality. The unions support a threshold of 52 calls in a UK port per year to end undercutting and to ensure that as many seafarers are covered by these progressive measures as possible.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “In a matter of months, this Labour government has made important strides to stop another P&O Ferries scandal by delivering the Employment Rights Bill, which will make our labour laws fit for the 21st century and boost pay and conditions in the ferries sector for good.”

Mark Dickinson, Nautilus general secretary and TUC president, added: “This is the third anniversary of P&O Ferries dismissing 786 dedicated maritime professionals with no notice and no consultation. Our members were escorted by handcuff wielding trained security away from their workplaces, many having been told by Zoom that their long-standing careers with P&O Ferries were being ended without ceremony and without proper process.

“Nautilus is committed to working with the government to deliver further improvements to seafarer employment rights. We have to prevent the exploitation of seafarers in our waters and redouble efforts to deliver high-quality training and employment for our maritime professionals. Only this strategy will support growth and the resilience, security and prosperity of our nation.”

RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said he wanted the Employment Rights Bill to apply to seafarers in full so that specific seafaring regulations, such as the port thresholds, could not water down workers’ rights.

 

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