UK-based seafarers’ Union, RMT has called on the UK Government to stop P&O Ferries profiteering from public funds, following the release of the company’s 2023 accounts nearly a year later than required by law.
The P&O accounts were published nearly 10 months late, following the resignation of its auditors in May.
The union claimed that the company had already broken the law by firing and replacing seafarer RMT members with foreign agency crew who are paid under £5 per hour with no protection, working a minimum of 12-hour days, seven days per week for months in UK waters.
RMT general secretary, Eddie Dempsey (pictured), said that P&O Ferries was a pariah company that had torched its reputation and that of the UK shipping industry to cut labour costs.
“The astronomical 172% pay award for executive pirate Peter Hebblethwaite is a slap in the face to seafarers and communities in Dover, Hull and Larne, direct from Dubai.
“P&O Ferries must be explicitly prevented from benefiting from public investment in green port infrastructure in Dover, Tilbury, Larne or Hull.
“The measures in the (UK) Employment Rights Bill must also be strong enough to break the P&O business model, as the French government has done and return quality, secure jobs to UK workers in the ferries and ports sectors.
“We will continue to raise our concerns with government ministers to hold P&O ferries to account and ensure preventative measures are robust to prevent any other rogue employer in the shipping industry doing the same,” he said.
