Security guards in balaclavas armed with handcuffs are trying to board P&O ferries across the UK to try and remove crew who are staging a sit in protest, according to reports.
The general secretary of RMT Mick Lynch made the claims this afternoon following the devastating announcement that 800 staff are being made redundant by the travel company.
Services and crossings from all ports across the UK, including Cairnryan in Scotland, have been suspended for the next few days leaving many travel plans in chaos.
P&O Ferries said in a statement: “In its current state, P&O Ferries is not a viable business.
“We have made a £100 million loss year on year, which has been covered by our parent, DP World. This is not sustainable.
“Our survival is dependent on making swift and significant changes now. Without these changes there is no future for P&O Ferries.”
All staff on board P&O ferries were ordered to leave, some with just five minutes’ notice, according to Wales Online.
But the crew of the P&O vessel Pride of Hull are refusing to leave out of protest.
Crew members that belong to trade unions were earlier advised not to leave the ships they were on. Now, a union boss said it was seeking “urgent legal action”.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “We are receiving reports that security guards at Dover are seeking to board ships with handcuffs to remove crew so they can be replaced with cheaper labour.
“We are seeking urgent legal action and are again calling for the Government to take action to stop what is fast turning into one of the most shameful acts in the history of British industrial relations.
“If this happens at P&O it can happen anywhere, and we are calling for mass trade union and wider public mobilisation and protest against the company.”
Labour MP Diana Johnson told the Commons today: “I understand from the RMT union [the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers] that these agency staff, mainly from overseas, are in buses on the quayside with a security firm... wearing balaclavas and taking British crew off these ships.
She added: “This is shameful and it goes against all norms of fair and reasonable behaviour and it’s clear that foreign ratings will be employed on terms that are less favourable than our current UK seafarers are.
“And this is about a race to the bottom in terms and conditions reminiscent of the worst Thatcherite policies.”
The Pride of Hull normally sails a P&O route from Hull to Rotterdam.
P&O employs 3,000 workers and has 20 ships.
A P&O spokesperson said the firm had to lay off staff as otherwise it would not be a “viable business”.
They added: “Our survival is dependent on making swift and significant changes now. Without these changes there is no future for P&O Ferries.
“These circumstances have resulted in a very difficult but necessary decision, which was only taken after seriously considering all the available options.
“As part of the process we are starting today, we are providing 800 seafarers with immediate severance notices and will be compensating them for this lack of advance notice with enhanced compensation packages.”
Separately, a former P&O Ferries worker told of a planned protest at a port. Dozens of employees gathered outside the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) office in Dover on Thursday afternoon.
The man, aged 54, who has worked in ferry engine rooms since the 1980s, told the PA news agency: “I’m fuming, to be honest with you. I’ve known people who’ve been with the firm for years - this is no way to treat people. It was just a short message this morning saying you’ve all lost a job, basically - all this service for nothing.
“I’ve seen coach loads of agency crews waiting in the car park at Hyde services just waiting to come down - it’s as simple as that. There’s going to be a protest here, one of the union guys just said if there’s no one working to come along and support.”
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