In an open letter, UK-based seafarers union, RMT, claimed that it had always supported genuine engagement to improve maritime safety.
But said it will not sit on the UK’s National Maritime Occupational Health and Safety Committee (NMOHSC) in its current form.
“In March, 2022, P&O Ferries carried out a brazen and unlawful attack on UK seafarers, sacking nearly 800 skilled crew and replacing them with agency labour.
Even the Conservative government conceded the dismissals were unlawful and a civil investigation by the Insolvency Service, launched in April, 2022, is still ongoing.
“For almost four years, the NMOHSC was chaired by Grant Laversuch, while he held a senior position at P&O Ferries.
“Although he stepped down as the P&O scandal unfolded, we believe there is an attempt to bring him and potentially others back into the fold.
“We are also now seeing other P&O officials hold influential positions within the Chamber of Shipping. Louisa Bell, now P&O’s Managing Director, has been appointed Chair of the Ferry and Cruise Panel, which will shape secondary regulations for the mandatory Seafarers’ Charter.
“And P&O’s CFO, Jonathan Campbell, chairs the Chamber’s International Trade and Taxation Committee, which covers tonnage tax, ‘competitiveness’ and policies directly affecting seafarers’ terms and conditions.
With P&O’s auditors, KPMG resigning earlier this year, this appointment is not only worrying but absurd.
“Those who oversaw the worst attack on UK seafarers in a generation cannot be allowed to set industry policy. Until that changes, RMT will not participate in the NMOHSC,” stressed Darren Procter, RMT’s National Secretary (pictured), in the letter.
