Unworkable, surely.
Cyprus has a minimum wage structure so it will interesting to see how they get round that.
There are lots of strange aspects to this event. First of all I am very surprised that the seafarers allowed themselves to be escorted off the ship by security staff. Any force used would have been illegal and involved the police to stop it. Workplace sit-ins are not unheard of and take time to resolve and they would have been well supported and supplied by the unions including port workers.
One of the ferries, the Irish one, was reported to be staffed and ready to sail but must wait for an inspection by the authorities as to the competence of the new crew. Letâs hope they drag their feet.
I donât think a passenger boycott will help much, it is the freight traffic that supports these ferries throughout the year and hauliers will find it difficult finding alternatives, even if they want to.
Not sure you can register a ship in a country which doesnât officially exist, that is one which is only recognised by one country, Turkey, so I think it is more likely that the registration is in the Greek bit which, of course, is in the EU. Not the EUâs finest hour that, exluding Northern Cyprus from accession because it wasnât re-united, after it voted for re-unification while the Greek half voted against.
Such a shame to us personally too. Back in the 90s we were frequent travellers on Brittany Ferries but they let us down badly over a 5 day return which was disallowed because they didnât have a sailing available. We moved to P&O who not only allowed an enforced longer stay but suggested a way, by using both Cherbourg and Le Havre, of us having 6 days in France under the same ticket. They were very generous too when we woke up in Portsmouth once when expecting to be in France because the ship had mechanical problems, giving us a hotel voucher and other forms of compensation.
Of course, if this was in France, the ferries would be blockaded if they tried to sail.
GREED
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This is all precisely how the system is meant to work. DP World are a major player in the governments Freeports initiative. These are zones where companies, with a hub physically in the Freeport zone and satellites virtually âinâ the zone, will be even more exempt from regulation than they will be in the rest of the UK. Plans are already in place to build hostels in the Freeports and bring in workers from Colombia and other sources at ÂŁ1.40 an hour â exactly the kind of system that operates in the Gulf states.
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Spot on as usual Mr Butcher
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âRaptorâ capitalism.
Watch both clips from the select committee, astounding.
Breathtaking.
So is that CEO basically saying there are no sanctions so they didnât give a $h1t and went ahead cos they knew they couldnât be touched?
IIRC if more than x people being sacked I think about 90, the company is required to âconsultâ for 90 days, within which notice can be given to end at the 90 day point. Failure to do means a constructive dismissal (IIRC) claim can be launched to recover wages that would have been paid in the consultation period. And if notice not correctly given, pay for notice period would be also claimable extra.
Have those workers completely missed being covered by this?
Looks like P&O are simply prepared to take the financial hits theyâre in for.
If they succeed in crewing the ferries with labour at a fraction of the cost of their competitors then of course the problem will distort the whole industry. Companies that would like to be responsible employers, and safety-conscious, will be out-competed on price.
Takes me right back to our brexit discussions. This kind of thing was precisely what the âbrexit ultrasâ wanted - quite explicitly - deregulated capitalism. That has always been a ârace to the bottomâ. But hereâs the really scary thing: the UK economy is simply not big enough on its own to sustain a welfare state, free healthcare and education, etc. These are already being undermined of course - âdisaster capitalismâ, working on cheap labour, will accelerate their disintegration.
Worry for your UK friends and relatives.
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Not sure how it works but surely companies need a license contract and permits to work out UK ports.
I think itâs time to put them out to tender with a strict scope of requirements and garanties. Letâs see if 1 itâs possible in the new Brexit World 2 if the government has the balls to show how World leading they are protecting UK citizens.
I very doubt it.
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Apart from lining his and his mates pockets, has he ever done anything that isnât half arsed 
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Winning the last general election?
The Conservative party won that though 
Or did Corbyn lose it?
Who 
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Brexit won the last election,sounds silly now considering it has been a complete disaster,but it,s true.
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