"The chief executive of P&O Ferries has admitted to breaking the law by firing the company’s entire UK crew without notice or consultation.
Giving evidence to UK MPs on Thursday, Peter Hebblethwaite was asked if he had “wilfully” broken the law by paying off almost 800 staff instead of launching a formal consultation as the law requires, he said: “I completely hold my hands up . . . we did choose not to consult.”
“There’s absolutely no doubt that we were required to consult with the unions. We chose not to do that . . . and will compensate everybody in full for that,” he said. Any consultation would have been a “sham”, he argued, because the company was moving to an entirely different operating model and “no union could accept our proposal”.
Under the new model, new P&O crews will be paid an average of £5.50 an hour, which is legal despite being well below the UK minimum wage. This is because P&O ships operate in international waters."
FT.com
Giving evidence to UK MPs on Thursday, Peter Hebblethwaite was asked if he had “wilfully” broken the law by paying off almost 800 staff instead of launching a formal consultation as the law requires, he said: “I completely hold my hands up . . . we did choose not to consult.”
“There’s absolutely no doubt that we were required to consult with the unions. We chose not to do that . . . and will compensate everybody in full for that,” he said. Any consultation would have been a “sham”, he argued, because the company was moving to an entirely different operating model and “no union could accept our proposal”.
Under the new model, new P&O crews will be paid an average of £5.50 an hour, which is legal despite being well below the UK minimum wage. This is because P&O ships operate in international waters."
FT.com