5th July – Nautilus International, the UK’s largest maritime union, has called on Labour to prioritise preventing another P&O Ferries scandal, as a matter of urgency, ensuring it delivers a legally binding Seafarers’ Charter.
In March 2022 P&O Ferries sacked almost it’s entire UK resident workforce without consultation or notice, replacing them with agency crew from abroad on substandard employment conditions.
Nautilus International has warned that despite the Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023 and a voluntary Seafarers’ Charter introduced by the previous government, another P&O Ferries can still happen.
Speaking in the aftermath of the scandal, Sir Keir Starmer vowed Labour would close the employment law gaps that allowed P&O Ferries to act in the scandalous way they did.
On the first anniversary of the scandal, then Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh and Deputy Leader Angela Rayner promised a five-point plan to prevent another P&O Ferries scandal, including the introduction of a legally binding Seafarers’ Charter.
Nautilus International general secretary Mark Dickinson said: “P&O Ferries’ egregious act of corporate thuggery needed to be a watershed for employment rights in the UK. Unfortunately, the last government failed to learn these lessons.
In opposition, Labour committed to implementing a legally binding Seafarers’ Charter. Labour in government must introduce this charter as a matter of urgency to end the ongoing exploitation of seafarers in our waters.
It is now time for Labour to deliver on this promise, ensuring words are met with action.
We look forward to working in partnership with the government to deliver this mandatory charter and other changes to UK employment law to prevent another P&O Ferries from happening again.”
