P&O Ferries plans to resume operating between Dover and Calais in the coming days amid accusations it attempted to further reduce the wages of its seafarers. The firm is selling tickets for cross-Channel sailings on its ship Spirit of Britain, with the first departure at 4.25am on Wednesday from the Kent port.
It will be first time it has operated a ferry on the route since it sacked nearly 800 seafarers without notice and replaced them with cheaper agency workers on March 17. Spirit of Britain was detained by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on April 12 after safety issues were found, but was cleared to sail on Friday.
Meanwhile, Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union general secretary Mick Lynch claimed P&O Ferries has been “prevented from further cutting the pay of vulnerable agency crew” by “pressure from RMT seafarers”. The firm, owned by Dubai-based logistics giant DP World, insisted no agency workers were asked to take a pay cut.
