P&O bosses issued with deadline to come up with answers over shock sackings

dailyrecord.co.uk:

P&O bosses have been issued with a deadline to come up with answers – as they faced fresh claims some foreign workers are paid less than £2 an hour.

Unions say the P&O Ferries scandal, in which it sacked 800 crew on the spot, replacing them with cheaper agency workers, had shone a light on a “race to the bottom”.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has ordered P&O to answer a string of questions by 5pm tomorrow at the latest.However, it came amid reports Government officials knew about P&O Ferries’ mass sacking plans.According to the Sunday Times, Department for Transport civil servants were told on Wednesday night of the plans to replace loyal workers with cheaper agency staff with no notice.Yet they wrote the action would “ensure that they remain a key player in the UK market for years to come”.MPs, unions, church leaders and others condemned P&O, owned by Dubai logistics giant DP World.Lawyers believe P&O may have acted illegally.Kwarteng, in his letter to P&O, said: “Failure to meet the notification obligation is a criminal offence and can lead to an unlimited fine.”Chancellor Rishi Sunak yesterday said: “The way they have treated their workers is awful, it’s wrong.

We are examining not just those actions and whether they comply with the regulations as they should have done but also our own relationship with the company.”Unions claim shipping firms use loopholes to employ cheap foreign labour on vessels regularly plying their trade in UK waters.