Nautilus Union has expressed itself as deeply disappointed at the news that P&O Ferries will not be facing criminal charges in the UK for its firing of some 800 seafarers in March 2022 with no advance notice –replacing them with lower paid contract workers. The UK’s
Insolvency Service said on Friday August 19th that it had undertaken a full and robust criminal investigation, but decided that there was “no realistic prospect of a conviction”.
The concerned unions and several UK MPs had asserted that under UK law P&O Ferries was required to provide 45 days’ notice before dismissing its employees and commence a consultation with its unions.
A contrary argument was that P&O Ferries, being owned by Dubai-based DP World, was effectively a foreign entity. The ferries were all registered outside the UK, and the assertion was that the company’s only obligation was to the flag states where the vessels were registered.
The Insolvency Service said that the investigation had been further reviewed by an independent senior prosecution lawyer.
A civil investigation is ongoing.
The company faced weeks of disruption as it attempted to train the replacement crews. The UK Maritime & Coastguard Authority (MCA) reviewed each vessel before permitting them to sail, failing some of them more than once, and the UK government promised to cancel contracts and institute new employment laws that required all seafarers working on ships regularly operating from the UK to meet the country’s minimum standards.
Mark Dickinson, general secretary of Nautilus, said that “the message is clear, P&O Ferries must be held properly accountable for their disgraceful actions and we will continue the campaign to ensure that the CEO and his fellow directors are held to account and to make certain this can never happen again”.
The union has maintained its previous line, that it believes that P&O Ferries had a legal obligation to provide advance notice both to the UK Secretary of State of its plans and to Bermuda, Cyprus, and the Bahamas, where the vessels are registered. The union also claims that the company failed to provide notice to the flag states ahead of firing the crews.
Nautilus noted that the civil investigation has not yet been completed.
