P&O Ferries faces the threat of a travel trade boycott in protest against the company sacking 800 seafarers and causing chaos at ports by abruptly suspending sailings.
Amid widespread condemnation of the way nearly a quarter of the workforce had been treated, at least one agent stopped taking bookings for the UK’s largest ferry company.
Sutton Travel tweeted: “A disgraceful way to treat your loyal and hardworking staff, especially on the back of 2 years of uncertainty for P&O employees.
“This should not be allowed to happen. Sutton Travel have now put P&O Ferries on a stop sale and won’t be selling their products until further notice.”
EasyJet reacted by adding fast-track applications for UK cabin crew roles for P&O Ferries employees.
“Roles are also available at our Luton HQ,” the budget airline tweeted, adding: “Thinking of everyone impacted today”.
The Labour mayor for Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, called for a boycott of P&O Ferries.
Kuoni chief executive Derek Jones took to social media to question the legality of the sackings.
On Twitter he said: “It’s illegal in the UK to make 800 people redundant without engaging in a 90 day formal consultation process…right? What have I missed?”
Shakespeare Travels responded: “It’s fire and rehire. It’s also unfair dismissal.”
However, the company is owned by Dubai-based DP World and reflagged its ships from Dover to in Cyprus in 2019, citing “operational and accounting reasons” following the UJ’s decision to leave the European Union.
Mick Lynch, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union (RMT), said: “We are seeking urgent legal action and are again calling for the government to take action to stop what is fast turning into one of the most shameful acts in the history of British industrial relations.
“If this happens at P&O it can happen anywhere and we are calling for mass trade union and wider public mobilisation and protest against the company.”
P&O Ferries chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite said the firm was forced to take the “difficult but necessary” decision after losing £100 million year on year.
He added he stood by his decision to replace the fired staff with agency workers who will reduce the firm’s crewing costs by 50%.
All sailings remained cancelled today (Friday) and for days ahead with passengers urged not to travel on the prime Dover-Calais route as a backlash against P&O Ferries gathered pace.
Maritime minister Robert Courts said he was “extremely concerned and frankly angry at the way workers have been treated” which he told the House of Commons was “wholly unacceptable”.
“Reports of workers being given zero notice and escorted off their ships with immediate effect while being told cheaper alternatives would take up their roles shows the insensitive nature by which P&O approached this issue – a point I made clear when I spoke to the management at P&O,” he said.
“There can be no doubt that the pandemic has had a devasting impact on the finances of many travel companies including P&O. But while their finances is a matter for them and them alone to take, I would have expected far better for the workers involved.”
He added that he did not expect critical goods and services to be hit by the sudden drop in capacity, but travellers “should expect some disruption over the coming days”.
Courts said the company had told him it will be suspending services for “a week to 10 days while they locate new crew” on the Dover to Calais, Larne to Cairnryan, Dublin to Liverpool and Hull to Rotterdam routes.
Transport Select Committee chairman Huw Merriman said P&O Ferries had made an “appalling error”.
“If they do not reverse immediately and reinstate the employees and follow proper process, it’s hard to see a way back for them commercially,” he said.
Merriman asked that the government “does everything within its power and influence, including tabling emergency legislation if needed, to ensure that this appalling employment transaction cannot be completed”.
Courts said it was “a fast-moving situation” but he would review “what arrangements exist as we go forward”.
A message on the company’s website said it had announced “a programme of work to become a more competitive and efficient operator, providing a better service to our customers across the tourism and freight industries”.
The ferry firm added: “While we enact these changes, there will be significant disruption across P&O Ferries services over the next few days, however we are working to minimise the impact on your journey.
“If travelling on our Dover-Calais route please arrive at the port as booked and we will arrange to get you away on an alternative carrier as quickly as possible. Once at the port please make your way to the DFDS check-in booths.”
Meanwhile, Cruise 118 tweeted: “Following the news of P&O Ferries, we would like to take this opportunity to advise our customers that P&O Cruises is owned and operated by Carnival Corporation and has no connection to P&O Ferries. P&O Cruises are operating as normal.”