Venal scumbags running P&O still venal scumbags...

[hidetheelephants]

... who are employing people on less than half UK NMW; anyone travelling by P&O ferries be aware you are supporting social dumping. As expected the govt have done fk all to change the law and prevent a repeat at another company.

Guardian

[poo at Paul's]

grrrrr Tories

[Ian Geary]

Here's the thread from 2 years ago

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

End result was staff all accepted compensation, and p and o got offered to run a Freeport.


(I also recall Irish ferries did exactly the same thing some years back, but it went under the radar as fewer English use them I guess)

[bunchofkeys]

How can the govt force minimum wage for non-UK residents, working on a non-UK boat, run by a non-uk company in international waters?
Sure it docks here, but since the sackings, surely it's got nothing to do with us now?

I'm not disagreeing with your view, the owners seem like modern slave driving s.

Edited by bunchofkeys on Monday 18th March 20:41

[SlimJim16v]

12hr days, 7 days a week for months at a time with no days off.

[LimaDelta]

I'm sure it's MLC compliant.

[ChocolateFrog]

bunchofkeys said:

How can the govt force minimum wage for non-UK residents, working on a non-UK boat, run by a non-uk company in international waters?
Sure it docks here, but since the sackings, surely it's got nothing to do with us now?

I'm not disagreeing with your view, the owners seem like modern slave driving s.

Edited by bunchofkeys on Monday 18th March 20:41

If we're talking about the Dover/Calais ferries they don't travel in international waters.

[alangla]

The article concentrates on the Dover to Calais route, does this mean similar practices are or aren’t happening on the UK - Northern Ireland routes, given they’re domestic ports at each end and, certainly in the case of the North Channel, surely not wide enough to be international waters. Maybe it’s time we did what the USA does and insist on domestic flagged vessels on domestic routes. Maybe best not to insist on them being built at Ferguson’s though…

[ChocolateFrog]

It is a scandal.

I genuinely don't know how the bosses reconcile their consciences while they no doubt live comfortably off the backs of modern slavery.

There's no reasonable explanation at all why cross Channel workers shouldn't be paid either the UK or French NMW.

[Fast and Spurious]

Click-bait rubbish from the guardian.

[Matthen]

Well, the price of a cross channel ferry hasn't been sent to the moon by workers wages, we can be sure of that.

So why has it gone so high? Where is the competition? The market just seems to be broken.

[Condi]

ChocolateFrog said:

Channel workers shouldn't be paid either the UK or French NMW.

French government has/is already introducing a law that would require them to be paid French minimum wage.

[vaud]

Fast and Spurious said:

Click-bait rubbish from the guardian.

I think they have a point - why should a ferry operating between UK and France not operate under either countries min wage?

I'm sure there are no safety concerns in paying the cheapest possible wage from offshore workers and then working them very hard.

[DeejRC]

Matthen said:

Well, the price of a cross channel ferry hasn't been sent to the moon by workers wages, we can be sure of that.

So why has it gone so high? Where is the competition? The market just seems to be broken.

There is no competition to Dover-Calais ferries…?
Really? Seriously?

[Electro1980]

bunchofkeys said:

How can the govt force minimum wage for non-UK residents, working on a non-UK boat, run by a non-uk company in international waters?
Sure it docks here, but since the sackings, surely it's got nothing to do with us now?

I'm not disagreeing with your view, the owners seem like modern slave driving s.

Edited by bunchofkeys on Monday 18th March 20:41

Um… by changing the law… doing what the government is supposed to do… something along the lines of “any boat spending more than x% of its operating hours in UK waters must pay at least the Minimum Wage”.

[Condi]

Electro1980 said:

Um… by changing the law… doing what the government is supposed to do…

Current government don't have a great track record of doing what they're supposed to do, ie competent governing!

[biggles330d]

Last summer we went to Europe on the Ferry - Hull to Rotterdam - on P&O. I'll admit to holding my nose and booking against my better judgement but they were appreciably less costly than the DFDS alternative.
Thats probably the nub of the issue. People vote with their wallets.

While the staff were actually really good, interested, well presented, attentive, polite and enthusiastically hard working, I don't think I'd choose to use P&O again as it felt like a company whose assets are tired and having to scrimp and save.

[S600BSB]

Always avoid P&O.

[fat80b]

biggles330d said:

I'll admit to holding my nose and booking against my better judgement but they were appreciably less costly than the DFDS alternative.
Thats probably the nub of the issue. People vote with their wallets.

This is the truth of it. If the general population actually cared about it, they’d stop using them out of principle, but they don’t so they won’t.

I myself have several companies on my deny list and P&O became one of them - I won’t give them any of my money. But I appreciate that I’m an outlier.

[Chrisgr31]

DeejRC said:

Matthen said:

Well, the price of a cross channel ferry hasn't been sent to the moon by workers wages, we can be sure of that.

So why has it gone so high? Where is the competition? The market just seems to be broken.

There is no competition to Dover-Calais ferries…?
Really? Seriously?

You have to wonder though as I have booked Newhaven Dieppe in June. It was significantly cheaper than Dover-Calais despite taking more than twice as long.

No doubt the crossing companies can prove that the Dover Calais is not highly profitable but you need to look at debt costs, who holds the debt and everything else to work out whether that’s correct or not