Tory MPs stand accused of "showing contempt" for workers' rights after refusing to back a Labour bid to end fire and rehire practices in the wake of the P&O Ferries scandal.
The company sparked outrage last Thursday when it sacked 800 workers last Thursday, without warning the government or consulting with trade unions, via a pre-recorded video message.
It is understood staff are being replaced with cheaper agency workers.
Shortly after the sackings, footage emerged of workers being marched off ships by balaclava-clad security staff in what the RMT union described as "one of the most shameful episodes in its recent industrial history".
The dispute has led to renewed calls for the Government to strengthen workers' rights.
On Monday night in the Commons, the Labour Party forced a vote on ending fire and rehire practices - which see firms staff to essentially accept the same job for weaker terms and conditions and lower wages - and giving P&O workers their jobs back.
But MPs on the Government ignored the motion and ministers now face anger.
Speaking after the vote, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Everybody deserves dignity and security at work.
“But the government is once again showing contempt for workers’ rights by failing to back action on fire and rehire.
“After the scandalous events at P&O have ministers learnt nothing?
“It is clear to everybody that UK employment law needs dragging into the 21st Century.
“The longer the government delays and does nothing the longer bad bosses will be able to get away with treating staff like disposable labour.
“Ministers must urgently bring forward an employment bill to root out exploitative working practices.
“And they must put relentless pressure on P&O to reinstate all sacked staff.”
Sacked P&O workers watched in the House of Commons public gallery as MPs voiced fury about the ferry operator, bought by Dubai-based logistics firm DP World in 2019, opting to replace the them with cheaper agency staff.
Leading the debate was Shadow Transport Secretary Lou Haigh, who said P&O staff "spoke movingly about how P&O felt like a family", adding. "The reward for that loyalty? A summary dismissal via a pre-recorded video. Years of dedication ended with them being marched off the ships they lived and worked on by private security guards.
"They have a four year old child that they no longer know how they will feed and clothe. They told me, with tears in their eyes, that they felt they’d been treated like criminals.
"And It is nothing short of a scandal that this Dubai-owned company – which received millions in taxpayers money during the pandemic – can tear up the rights of British workers. All while their profits soared by 52% last year. This cannot, it must not stand. We cannot allow British workers, and this country, to be taken for a ride."
She told her Government counterpart, Grant Shapps, that the Government should trigger immediate "criminal action" against the company.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), which represented many of the 800 staff fired without notice last week, said their replacements are being paid well below the minimum wage in the UK.
General secretary Mick Lynch said: “The news that the seafarers now on ships in British ports are to be paid 2.38 dollars an hour is a shocking exploitation of those seafarers and another gut-wrenching betrayal of those who have been sacked.
“The rule of law and acceptable norms of decent employment and behaviour have completely broken down beneath the white cliffs of Dover and in other ports, yet five days into this national crisis the Government has done nothing to stop it.
“These ships of shame must not be allowed to sail. The Government has to step in now and take control before it’s too late.”
The minimum wage in the UK for people aged 23 and above is £8.91 per hour.
But companies using UK ports often register ships in other countries, allowing them to pay lower wages.
For example, some vessels operated by P&O Ferries are flagged in Cyprus.
P&O Ferries refused to comment on the pay of agency workers.
When the firm informed staff on Thursday they were losing their jobs, it told them it was aiming to halve crewing costs.
Mr Shapps confirmed to MPs that P&O Ferries could face “criminal prosecution and unlimited fines” over its handling of the redundancies, with the Insolvency Service examining the matter.
He went on: “For our part we’re reviewing all Government contracts with P&O Ferries as a matter of urgency and with DP World and, where possible, we’re looking to use other providers if indeed there are any contracts where the UK Government is involved; I believe at this point that they have been historic in nature rather than current.
“We’re considering further steps we can take to remove P&O Ferries’ influence from British maritime, including positions on any advisory boards because again I don’t want to see that company, with the way the management has behaved, advising the way that British maritime is shaped and rolls out.”
Mr Shapps said the Government will “consider” whether it needs to go further on fire and rehire laws.
