By P&O Ferries boss ‘incredibly sorry’ for impact of sackings
The boss of P&O Ferries said he is “incredibly sorry” for the impact felt by the 800 hundred staff who were recently sacked.
But, in an interview with the BBC, Peter Hebblethwaite insisted the decision was “the route we only deemed possible”.
P&O Ferries sacked almost 800 seafarers in March and replaced them with foreign agency workers paid less than the minimum wage, sparking outrage and calls for Mr Hebblethwaite to resign.
When asked how he would feel if he was sacked in the same way, Mr Hebblethwaite told the BBC it is “not pleasant being made redundant”.
“I’m incredibly sorry, on the decision we took had a material impact on a number of our ex-employees. And I do regret that,” he added.
However, he insisted the move was “the route we only deemed possible for us to take”, and part of “a difficult decision and repositioning for a better future”.
He added that P&O needed to modernise and become competitive, stating it had issued the biggest redundancy package in maritime history.
The P&O Ferries boss declined to comment on the the legal requirement to consult staff in advance of redundancy due to an ongoing investigation by the insolvency service.
He also refused to comment on whether the flag status of P&O Ferries’ ships meant the company could get round UK workers’ rights.
When challenged on why seafarers on Dover to Calais route were being paid well below the UK National Minimum Wage, he said the firm’s wages were consistent with international standards.
However, he said if the law was changed in the UK the company “will absolutely do what we are required to do by law”.
Mr Hebblethwaite then apologised to customers about the impact of ferries being out of service, particularly on the busy Dover-Calais crossing.
The reduced ferry capacity was a contributing factor in particularly long lorry queues building up on the way to Dover before Easter.
Admitting it took “longer than they would have liked” to get its ships back into service, the chief executive said it had been “a difficult couple of months”.
“I want to say sorry to our customers for the delay in us getting back into service, but it was important that safety was right. We are being held to a high standard,” he said.
