A Paisley sailor is back on dry land after a secretive operation to try and get him to crew a ferry run by crisis-hit P&O.
Gavin Hamilton revealed he was taken on a mystery coach trip to an unknown boat as P&O attempted to replace staff it had just fired on the spot.
But when Gavin realised what was going on, he refused the board the ship, the Cairnryan-based European Highlander.
Ironically, he had just quit a lengthy contract on the same boat just three weeks earlier and was looking for a change of company.
He said: “Going on that boat would feel as if I was crossing a picket line.
“When we realised the RMT was involved and this was a big union dispute, we didn’t want to be part of that.
“To us, boarding that ship was like crossing a picket line.”
“We felt like traitors and I knew many of the crew who have lost their jobs.”
P&O has been savaged for firing 800 UK staff by Zoom without warning.
Bosses say they need to re-hire cheaper labour as the company is not sustainable and made a £100 million loss last year.
Buddie Gavin revealed they were given no information about the vessel he would be working on.
He only realised it was a P&O ferry when the coach pulled up at the dock.
They were accompanied by a dozen security guards with handcuffs.
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Gavin said: “We were told the crew on board wouldn’t lose their jobs, they were going to be offered contracts.
“We later discovered through the news that wasn’t going to be the case and this wasn’t exactly the friendly handover we were told it was going to be.
“We were told it was going to be an entirely new vessel.
“But I knew a lot of people on board that were going to be losing their jobs and that just didn’t sit right with me.”
All P&O sailings from UK ports - including from Scotland to Larne in Northern Ireland - are currently suspended.
Economy Minister Gordon Lyons said it would be another week before P&O ships can operate from Larne Port.
P&O said: “Without these changes there is no future for P&O Ferries.”
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