Transport minister calls P&O Ferries 'rogue operator' as law is tightened| ITV News

[@reahuntley507]

Why does she not introduce a bill like the French did,that ensured no matter what country or flag your ferry operates under they have to pay the French minimum wage and adhere to French labour laws

[@greennames8350]

After they sacked them people i wont ever use P&O

[@composedlight6850]

Most people will use them , as they don't care.

[@antispindr8613]

Clearly, with her "No Such Thing As Society" mind set - has not Thatcher much to answer for?

[@DamiensTrainsandTravels]

Best thing to do boycott the company.

[@acciid]

The problem with that is they make a lot of their cash from freight, and they will generally pick operators based on convenience and cost. But yes, I don't use them personally

[@fatbobandy9670]

And the (un)civil servants that actually run the country still use these toerags . Should ban them from our ports .

[@PCDelorian]

Just beware that P&O Ferries is not the same company as P&O Cruises. I mention this because P&O Ferries makes most of its money from freight and P&O Cruises have suffered immensely from people Boycotting P&O as a whole. But P&O Cruises and P&O Ferries are wholly separate, not just distinct entities but owned separately. Ideally we need to go back to when trade unions were allowed to show sympathy, and have dock workers refuse to work with P&O Ferries, along with other unions refuse to work with cargo shipped on P&O Ferries rather than letting one company have all the leverage by simply firing the whole workforce.

[@jimmy18scot]

The British government should tell the ports they operate out of to refuse to allow them to dock. They can’t run a service if there’s nowhere to run it from.

[@PCDelorian]

@@jimmy18scot The problem is they haven't broken the law (as much as they've acted immorally) and the British Government does not have the lawful authority to unilaterally deny a person (which a company, in law, is) access to private funds for perceived misconduct wholly within the law. Trade unions should boycott them, but there are significant legal issues preventing them from doing that. The law is very much on P&O Ferries' side and the only real recourse is to make it so the law isn't on their side anymore. Of course you can't retroactively criminalise them, but you can prevent them from doing the same again (like France did when it applied the minimum wage and French labour laws to them).

[@Decrepit_biker]

I will not use P&O because of what they did.

[@medler2110]

Which ferry company are you using instead?

[@dannyfeller7034]

Just be aware folks that Irish Ferries have done the same.

[@emmaradford4548]

Short memories. Irish ferries did similar a while back..

[@bield7]

Long overdue. The Tories did nothing about P&O’s appalling behaviour

[@antispindr8613]

And now, 'Labour' does not plan to do much about P&O’s appalling behaviour towards its work force. Then again, unlike sell out Starmer, Corbyn was always for the many.

[@antispindr8613]

And now, sell out Starmer is back-tracking and is no longer willing to act against P&O’s appalling behaviour. Well, the limited return of true Labour values was nice while it lasted

[@stu101]

And they knew about it in advance

[@robhayes6121]

Bad management breeds Bad Management.

[@TheWestAnglian]

P&O should be forced to repay the sacked workers lost wages and offer the jobs back to those who were sacked in this scandal

[@BarrySuridge]

P&O no longer exist in Australia. Our worker's rights are very, very tight - too tight for P&O apparently. 😂

[@stevethewomble]

P&o Australia and p&o ferries were 2 different companies

[@KeepItSimpleSailor]

@@stevethewombleyeah whatever - another spider web of companies means nothing mate

[@stevethewomble]

P&o ferries are a subsidiary of dpworld, p&o cruises are part of carnival corps, so no spiders web of companies 😎

[@danb4530]

This is what happens when you allow your critical infrastructure to become foreign owned

[@davefish8107]

Like rail , gas, electricity, water . The great British give away . Next is the police and NHS

[@illegalopinions4082]

@@davefish8107NHS is already gone. They set up schools in the places like the Philippines and train batches of nurses and bring them over. They don't bother with local training. It's been going on so long some are retiring lol

[@sdgfsdfagsdfgdsfhsdfghd]

The boomers let this happen while they got a few quid on the side

[@jvk1770]

P&O's parent might be owned by the Arabs but the company itself is still British. I can see their headquarters from my window. It's rather a case of this is what happens when a shipping company goes from sailing under the Red Ensign to a cheapo flag of convenience where anything goes. Irish Ferries flies the Cypriot flag as well and the quality of their service isn't much better. DFDS is the only one of three operators out of Dover that still has predominantly British and French crews.

[@danb4530]

@@jvk1770 Flags of Convenience should be outlawed next.

[@carlyleroad]

I used to use P&O from \Hull to Zeebrugge twice a year as my gateway to France and Spain. Since they went 'rogue' two years ago I've driven to Folkestone and used Le Shuttle each time instead. Starting and ending my journeys by overnight ferry used to be the cherry on the top of a great holiday but not if it ignores P&O's abhorrent behaviour.

[@andreasschreiner3651]

Stena from Harwich to Hoek van Holland is a good ethical alternative. They still employ English and Dutch seafarers on good T&C's.

[@Deepthought-42]

I used to use P&O regularly for cross channel crossings but have boycotted them ever since they laid off their staff. Now it’s DFDS or Irish Ferries, NEVER P&O.

[@bobcornford3637]

Why Irish Ferries? They did exactly what P&O did.

[@Deepthought-42]

@@bobcornford3637 You are right. I didn’t know this. Irish Ferries are boycotted as well! It’s now inly DFDS for me.

[@scousertom0388]

@@Deepthought-42 Good for you!

[@marcusingram522]

Haven’t used P&O since, and won’t use them in the future

[@jerryorange6983]

Ban them from stoping at Dover and allow them to operate from Thurso only .

[@firstpestcontrol276]

Aye, lots of lovely places up there to visit.

[@mraidymaddful]

Shame the government can't find a loophole to close them down, or at least ban them from employing anyone other than French or English workers. To teach them a lesson more than anything!

[@VictorCharlesEvans]

I WOULDN'T RIDE ANYTHING P&O EVEN IF THEY GAVE ME FREE PASSAGE!!!! A GRADE ONE SCAB FIRM!!!

[@bertiewooster3326]

Can I have your free passage?

[@antispindr8613]

Clearly, Thatcher and the right wing nuts have much to answer for.

[@thomascampbell8293]

Literally all Irish Ferries vessels (including at Dover) use overseas agency staff! In 2005 Irish Ferries were in the news for laying off Irish seafarers - a quick Google search would have established that... Very sloppy and misleading reporting.

[@AdrianMcDaid]

Don't forget this still affects Ferries from GB to the island of Ireland

[@6r4metroman]

DFDS it is then...

[@ClareFlynn-y8w]

Labour def got this right

[@notallpolitical]

Had to happen some time law of averages

[@WhichDoctor1]

@@notallpolitical that rationale didn't seem to apply to the tories. When was the last time they got something right?

[@antispindr8613]

Well the return of true Labour was good - while it lasted. Sadly, Starmer has now returned to his bad old ways of selling out the work force. At least Corbyn knows which side he was on

[@dcoughla681]

Keir Starmer has since issued a press release saying that Louise Haigh’s views do not represent those of the government.

[@graemer3657]

They compete against Irish ferries, whose crew are from Latvia and Lithuania. Why the double standard?

[@alannewman85]

I think it’s because Latvia and Estonia are EU nations - so that ‘makes it ok’ somehow.

[@DavidGetling]

On this I agree with the Labour minister. Whenever I see a P&O advert for cruises I remember the appalling way they treated (and still do) their workers, and would never knowingly add to the coffers of a company like this.

[@danb4530]

P&O Ferries and P&O Cruises are 2 totally different companies with 2 totally different owners

[@DavidGetling]

​@@danb4530 Thanks for that info. I've seen some nice cruises advertised, but wanted to do the decent thing. The cruise company needs to make sure this is well known or change its name, because what P&O Ferries did is probably costing them a lot of business.

[@JSmith19858]

Carnival aren’t that bothered about how one brand is viewed in one country. The Princess brand has done far worse

[@NeoDerGrose]

​@@DavidGetlingCruise lines are all acting this way anyways.

[@simonrangeley]

​@DavidGetling Each large cruise ship emits between 700 to 1000 lbs of carbon dioxide per day. Sulfer dioxide equivalent to 13.1 million cars. Plus black carbon molecules and methane. They also discharge large amounts of toxic waste straight into the sea. Please consider this before doing the right thing. Best wishes.

[@jamespeace5043]

I will never give P&O Ferries a single penny of my hard earned money

[@andyjones9869]

No one really noticed British gas in April that year fire and rehire on a lot worse terms 8000 engineers which made this now legal and possible

[@pstanyer1]

The law hasnt been tightened enough to stop them it has a get out clause.

[@jameswallace7709]

And yet the government employed seafarers (RFA) are striking due to poor conditions and pay 😂. Just worked 17 weeks straight myself

[@djcwilso]

It’s soo sad, they are giving the train drivers big increases and yet our fleet is a shadow of what it was. Vessels laid up because they can’t get the crew. It’s all very well outsourcing to other country’s the resupply duties but very short sighted !

[@bobcornford3637]

Working 17 weeks on an RFA is a different world from Dover - Calais. 84hour week 10 standbys a day. 50 minute turnround .... hour and half pier to pier. You RFA boys don't know how good you've got it.😊

[@bobcornford3637]

​@@djcwilsoGood sentiment - just 40 years too late.

[@djcwilso]

@@bobcornford3637 Father did time on the cross channel's that why I didn't ha

[@Alex-cw3rz]

Not huge fan of labour but this really does show the difference between tories and labour. The Tories were fine with P&O's action because they don't care about this country all they care about is money.

[@lapisredux]

erm....dame starmer is fine with P&O and he is the leader of the labour party.

[@Alex-cw3rz]

@@lapisredux if he was fine with what they did they wouldn't have introduced this bill

[@lapisredux]

@@Alex-cw3rz so despite what you claim you are in fact a huge fan of the labour party....granny killing scroungers are your choice.

[@lindastewartbrown4915]

All the maritime industry, not just ferries. The news had a story about a UK cruise line that threatened exactly that, publicly. And when it hit the news, they retracted their paperwork to the government to let their employees go.

[@barrybarry6592]

The company and the government were complicit, Shaaps was at a port meeting a few days earlier and briefed. Off shoring is nothing new and its still going to happen

[@plastikbertrand]

Remove their operating licence immediately

[@zogzoogler]

How the once great Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company has sank

[@oweng7987]

The transport minister is supposed to put transport in place to best support the economy.

[@pm1104]

I believe it when I see it ! 😮

[@15hl]

How would this woman afford to go a cruise anyway?

[@russellbenton2987]

Boycott them . They can’t get away with it.

[@Peter-s2z]

That’s Louise Haigh to the backbenches then. 😂

[@KeepItSimpleSailor]

So ….. safety at sea isn’t on P&O’s mission statement? 😂

[@alannewman85]

Finally some reaction from the Brits and French. Irish Government needs to follow suit.

[@yaulkwong3775]

Other operators should advertise, "9x% of our employees are from UK". So let the customer choose.

[@marcdawson2156]

I’m amazed people have kept on using P & O ferries, frankly if you give money to a company like this you’re just as bad as they are.

[@simonjohn9525]

Working for 17 weeks without a break on a ship is quite normal, 26 weeks is the norm. The real tragedy is the no British Government has ever insisted that vessels operating out of British ports are British registered and crewed. Obviously a regular ferry operation would have to allow the reciprocating country to have up to half the ships registered with them.

[@bobcornford3637]

What you're referring to is cabotage. The British didn't do it because we had the largest Merchant Service on the planet. If we had practised cabotage the only companies to suffer would be British.

[@simonjohn9525]

@@bobcornford3637 Up until the 1950’s that may have been true but official cabotage has become widespread and due the easy mobility of labour, the decline of what amounted to route monopolies and financial and regulatory advantage of flags of convenience the British Merchant Fleet has declined to almost nothing. It’s actually disgraceful that goods are transported between UK ports in from the UK mainland to UK sectors where oil exploration and production is carried out in non UK ships. The Norwegians, Americans, Australians, Danes, Italian, Spanish and French, to name but a few don’t allow it unless there are exceptional circumstances and even if it’s not rigidly enforced by legal means there’s a lot of hostility to non natives working in these sectors.

[@richardbutler4488]

What ship if she fluting around on? Hardly a P&O one 😅 (edit DFDS something in Dover)

[@stuartr7785]

It looks like she’s in the operations control room at the Port of Dover.

[@TheElDoctoro24]

The lesson of all this is don’t unionise

[@kingayman5225]

They will do what they do best and just charge more for a crossing.

[@michaeltb1358]

Most cruise lines have operated that way for many years. The newest P&O ferries are Chinese built, as are many new buses in UK. Where are we going?

[@macjim]

So, they’ll just fire blocks if 19 and say it’s necessary too do so to get around these rules. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@evilroman1sobieski756]

Also need to boycott the people still using P&O for business or leisure.

[@Knitting_n_Trucking]

As an American who can’t afford to leave the country, I will continue my boycott of P&O!!!

[@djtomoy]

you know there’s a tunnel to france now? you can get there without getting wet

[@tomsmith6882]

Labour has just come out saying she was talking “in a personal capacity” 😂 while commenting on a ferry company and changing the law, as transport secretary. Labour is just so incompetent

[@davepfizer]

Never happen again........ something tells me that it is a little too late to make any difference and certainly won't make any difference to those that lost their jobs. We are a country full of rubbish and it makes no difference how you look at it we are going to the dogs.

[@davidwong4821]

What p and o did was called Capitalism, that's how it works. Don't you British like how Capitalism works? What you want is Socialism. Capitalism also involves competing fairly with other countries and companies like China and not trying to suppress and keep them down with tarriffs and protectionism like the US and EU are doing to China. No country has the right to suppress other countries development with tarriffs etc. China is not doing it to western countries.

[@petyrkowalski9887]

Scummy company. The law needs to change.

[@steveminers5764]

DFDS gained our regular business and they are pretty good too

[@herbertjohnston4608]

Don't use P&O simple

[@Paul-yw5rg]

Will Labour do the same with the cheap UNSKILLED eu workers in the uk ?

[@1258-Eckhart]

Wow, a government actually acting on its promises. Haven't seen that for a long while.

[@Hanking-Warry]

A very novel concept.

[@geoffheslop3606]

Yeah! Not for at least 14 years!

[@alexischaralampidis2072]

Vote with your money. None for P&O

[@daviddenham1511]

Maybe the government should deal with the hundreds of other “rogue” operators in dinghies?……..ie get their priorities right

[@alanrogers9597]

She's right, P&O are a very poor on workers rights, and behaved appallingly.

[@jimg2850]

P&O Ferries basically saying we shall operate in this rogue way until someone changes the law. Hopefully labour can get this right! Lazy of the presenter to call them P&O at the end of the article.

[@simon-k7m]

😂🤣🤣It will definitely never happen again ! Meaning it will definitely happen again , maybe even the next week .

[@DashDriver-z1r]

Why does our transport minister look like a bingo caller from up north

[@pb5x5]

Don't be a snob

[@dcoughla681]

DP World, owner of P&O ferries, has “paused” a £1bn investment in London Gateway Container Ports. This is ahead of the International Investment Summit to be held in London on Monday. Keir Starmer has said Louise Haigh’s views do not represent the views of the Government. Not a good advert for investing in Britain.

[@David-xv4nz]

Loads Companys are Doing this get non nationals in sack Original staff and save on wages this is happen all over the place

[@dcoughla681]

@@David-xv4nz This is due to globalisation & advances in tech which undercut wages in western countries. Robotics & tech will take care of the rest. P&O was a loss making company as people chose other faster carriers like Eurostar & Ryanair. They had to cut costs.

[@David-xv4nz]

@@dcoughla681 sounds like you work for them pal you just Don't sack staff how would you feel if you were sacked in morning and replaced

[@dcoughla681]

@@David-xv4nz I don’t work for them. This is happening in all industries. Unfortunately, ALL humans are replaceable. Just wait until we’re all replaced by robots.

[@colinmassey527]

BOYCOTT P&O !!!

[@nothandmade9686]

Praying P&O go bust.

[@MZig-rw7su]

Boycott p&o ferry

[@tornado1986cw]

I'll stick with Euro tunnel thank you 😄

[@KevC1234]

This government really are playing student union politics

[@simon199418]

Boats still need staff? I thought the AI could run everything by now.

[@Swan67-zw9jo]

Definitely one to boycott

[@knightsnight5929]

Thank god the tories have gone

[@antispindr8613]

...to be replaced with Starmer's Tory lite party.

[@thomash2806]

P&O are right to point out that they haven’t broken the law. It’s the law that’s at fault. The Transport Secretary needs to do more. It’s not good enough that P&O can do what they’re doing while respecting legislation and regulations. Simply boycotting won’t do. The UK needs labour law that protects workers.

[@lewiskelly14]

Like abolishing 2 years employment for an unfair dismissal claim

[@guystewart9554]

aaargh .

[@antispindr8613]

And now that Starmer has returned to his bad habit of selling out the interests of a loyal work force, we know which side he is on. As least Corbyn always attempts to protect the many not the few

[@theresnobodyhere5778]

what about the 230 million they claimed for furlow wages for foreign staff that ,like giving furlow payments to the population of french spanish workers who do they think they are ,yes they were ordered to pay it back still not a penny received , hows about the uk government seizing those ferries give them a week to pay the debt and then auction those boats off to third world countries be done with them ,,,CANT PAY WE,LL TAKE THEM AWAY , if it was like minimum wage worker owing 270 pound they be kicking doors in taking goods of value

[@Jacob-jo4px]

'Never happen again' - ah that famous saying throughout history. Oh, and when was a Politician allowed to tell the public to boycott a firm? Where were Labour to boycott foreign aid, Ukraine's war bill or middle East intervention?

[@funkydanis1278]

Brexit - Britain has control - impressive 😊

[@peterwoodhead2569]

Looking at this from the customer experience point of view travelling from Hull to Zeebrugge my wife and I found the Asian staff employed to be far better at enhancing the customer experience than their British colleagues it’s not only about the money, and to be honest that’s also true of the staff in our local Lidl.

[@tommckenna4633]

Yes horrible owners sort them out introduce laws to sort these muppets out or just nationalise it and tell them to go and buy a subutteo team otherwise known as a premier league football team see how they get on cutting their wages

[@PillSharks]

😂😂😂😂. Talk about a load of nonsense.. there aren’t any British seaman left! The only times you see a British seaman now is on tugs and sand boats and they are slowly being replaced!

[@andreasschreiner3651]

Stena

[@cp4512]

The Government Minister for Transport encouraging us to boycott a company operating within the law? Wtf?

[@tld8102]

Boycott them

[@lordjim3109]

Oh those benefits of Brexit hahaha

[@petittrainguernsey3297]

Watch the price of a crossing skyrocket… cant have it both ways.

[@harrypenn611]

That's amazing!!!! ............ oh wait ........... no its not ...........

[@macjim]

What’s with this ‘Great Britain’s’ this, that and everything. It used to be simply called the UK’s waters… Scottish, Welsh, Northern Ireland and England’s … the United Kingdom’s waters (UK) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 The tories… oops, ahem, I mean Labour sound more Tory every day 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@grahamnancledra7036]

Why do all these union reps or spokespeople all have scouse or northern accents?

[@thesmallerhalf1968]

Perhaps because the southerners are company toadies and lickspittles.

[@user-kf1he2pk3l]

Clearly you've never heard of Mick Lynch or the late Bob Crow

[@andreasschreiner3651]

​@@user-kf1he2pk3l stole the words right out of my mouth! RiP SIR Bob Crow.. You can add Alex Gordon, RMT President to that too, Paddington based driver by trade.

[@Thetraveller411]

Get those on benefits to work……‼️👀

[@RickPeake01]

Thats pretty rich coming from the real villains ... the British government