P&O found staff consultations would cost it £309m before sudden sackings
Beleaguered ferry firm P&O found that it would cost £309m to run the business while while consulting with staff over job losses, as it mulled options to keep the company afloat.
Bosses then decided to scrap any plans for a consultation and sack 800 staff without warning, triggering a huge backlash from politicians and unions.
A source at P&O told the PA news agency the study calculated it would cost £309m to keep the business going through a consultation period of at least three months and there was no guarantee of recovery.
Months of consultation would have undermined the firm, caused a disruption and dealt a “fatal blow” to the firm, the source said.
Bosses at P&O argue that the unceremonious sacking of 800 employees has safeguarded the long-term future of the firm and the livelihoods of 2,20 employees.
“We needed fundamental change to make the business viable. This was an incredibly difficult decision that we wrestled with but once we knew it was the only way to save the business, we had to act,” a spokesperson for the firm told PA.
“All other routes led to the loss of 3,000 jobs and the closure of P&O Ferries. In making this hard choice we have guaranteed the future viability of P&O Ferries and secured Britain’s trading capacity.”
P&O said that over 90 per cent of the sacked seafarers are in discussions over severance offers, with the total compensation bill set to top £36m.
The move has sparked a major political backlash, with boss Peter Hebblethwaite admitting to MPs last week that the firm broke the law by not consulting over the sackings.
Unions have attacked the firm over the move, and the Rail, Maritime and Transport and Nautilus International unions are urging the company to reverse the sackings and for the Government to take action against P&O.
General secretary of the RMT Mick Lynch said last week that the severance payout amounted to blackmail.
“The way that the package has been structured is pure blackmail and threats – that if staff do not sign up and give away their jobs and their legal right to take the company to an employment tribunal they will receive a fraction of the amount put to them,” he said.