Nautilus International, the union for maritime professionals, has welcomed a commitment from Carnival UK to withdraw their threat of fire and rehire for 919 maritime professionals.
On Wednesday evening, Nautilus received a copy of the HR1 form Carnival UK sent to the Insolvency Service which stated: “Dismissal and re-engagement may be considered if agreement cannot be reached on new terms.”
Following urgent discussions between Nautilus International and Carnival UK, the company has committed to withdrawing this threat.
The company has also have committed to Nautilus that they will be informing the Insolvency Service and Bermudan authorities of the withdrawal of the HR1 form and clarified to us that “[Their] intention from the outset was that there would be no dismissal and reengagement or redundancies. [They] can now categorically confirm that this will be the case.”
Commenting on the latest developments Nautilus executive officer Martyn Gray said: “This is a welcome move from Carnival UK and a positive indication of their commitment to engage in a meaningful consultation with us over changes to members terms and conditions. We thank them for their commitment to not dismiss and re-engage and look forward to working with them to come to a negotiated settlement in the interests of all parties.
“However, fire and rehire or dismissal and re-engagement, should never be an option for any employer to force changes to terms and conditions and the UK government should commit to outlawing this, a statutory code of practice is not enough.”
