PedallingSquares wrote: ↑18 Mar 2022, 10:18amI wonder if the Ferry ports could ban P&O owned craft from docking and thus making the company unable to offer a service?
There might be major regulatory concerns about the safety implications of replacing so many officers and crew at once.
I just had a squint on .gov and it seems an average of 4 or 5 ships a month are similarly detained across the UK. I hadn't realised it was a thing that the Coastguard Agency was accountable for - but it's obviously important for safety.
Another aspect to this saga I find really quite worrying is that without the coastguard inspections P&O would be operating at least 2 ferries that are deemed unsafe. I'm guessing but I can't believe the company would have ceased operations of their own fruition so I'm guessing they'd have happily been carrying people and freight on unsafe ferries - ferries made unsafe through P&O's own actions and changes.
To me that further highlights how the corporate management is unsuitable to hold their posts.
Psamathe wrote: ↑29 Mar 2022, 12:18pm[...] so I'm guessing they'd have happily been carrying people and freight on unsafe ferries - ferries made unsafe through P&O's own actions and changes.
Surely not. It's not like the company is a rebranding of one that killed nearly 200 people after a ferry sank because, in part, the company considered it frivolous to spend money on safety equipment that protected against crew errors.
The interesting question is when the ferries last passed inspection.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
"A two-week battle to hold P&O Ferries to account for the summary sacking of 786 crew members appears to have ended with a whimper, as unions said the Dubai-owned company had “got away with it” after ministers backtracked on legal action and all but one employee accepted the firm’s controversial payoff ahead of Thursday’s deadline."
"Last week Boris Johnson told parliament: “We will take them to court, we will defend the rights of British workers … P&O plainly aren’t going to get away with it.”
Psamathe wrote: ↑25 Mar 2022, 11:29amI have understood that you cannot sign away certain rights (unfair contracts, etc.). So can the employees given only a few days to accept the offer and sign away their legal rights actually sign away their legal rights or would this be protected by unreasonable pressure and unfair contracts? If you have with no warning of been made redundant and in a cost of living crisis with interest rates rising your main concern will be paying the mortgage/rent, keeping a roof over and feeding your family so when faced with a "take the money now or risk losing everything and decide by tomorrow" - I suspect I know how I'd react under such circumstances as I am often averse to high risk gambles. Could this constitute unreasonable pressure?
I have been wondering what would happen if a dismissed employee applied for compensation and won, but the amount was less than that previously offered by the employer. At the moment I'd guess that the employer's offer is time-limited in a way that this won't arise.
Exactly.
In the words of the great Bard Clint 'Do you feel Lucky?' (not my view, but the realpolitik of matters)
A protective award* of 3 months salary is there for all, without question - so what I would do is take the £ and then slap in, via my TU an extra claim for that. I expect P&O knows that very well and has put it in the budget.
*For failure to consult - cannot be signed away by a Settlement Agreement unless facilitated by ACAS
"The firm said by early Thursday afternoon all but one crew member, who could not be identified, had joined their redundancy process. The offer included a gagging clause prohibiting sacked crew from discussing P&O or taking further legal action. The promised payouts are understood to be higher than staff could have won had they sued at industrial tribunal."
Jdsk wrote: ↑31 Mar 2022, 8:31pm"A two-week battle to hold P&O Ferries to account for the summary sacking of 786 crew members appears to have ended with a whimper, as unions said the Dubai-owned company had “got away with it” after ministers backtracked on legal action and all but one employee accepted the firm’s controversial payoff ahead of Thursday’s deadline."
"Last week Boris Johnson told parliament: “We will take them to court, we will defend the rights of British workers … P&O plainly aren’t going to get away with it.”
P&O should be excluded from doing business in the UK with immediate effect. Any UK staff breaking employment law fined and jailed. Our company is a Ltd company but a manager breaking the law like that would do time.