Jump to content

A Masterclass in Employee Relations from P&O Ferries


Recommended Posts

50 minutes ago, Florentine_Pogen said:

I am fairly ignorant of employment / industrial relations legislation but had assumed that this type of stuff was completely illegal.

Can someone enlighten me ?  Maybe one for WRK ?

 

I guess they're taking advantage of the fact that we are no longer in the EU.

 

Quote

What is labour law?

Labour law defines your rights and obligations as workers and employers.

EU labour law covers 2 main areas:

  • working conditions - working hours, part-time & fixed-term work, posting of workers,
  •  
  • informing & consulting workers about collective redundancies, transfers of companies, etc.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, stumobir said:

It’s actually “gangway” or “accommodation ladder” depending on the system used. I am a seafarer (or was, I’m a Pilot now) and have a few mates who work for P&O, a total disbelief this has happened to them. A guy I know is onboard in Cairnryan, not only did security turn up, they were rigged out in balaclavas, a fine way to treat your staff, some who will have been working there for decades. To put this in to perspective, P&O paid out £270m in dividends in 2020.

Additionally, P&O have stated there will be disruption to service for a few days. Whenever I’ve joined a vessel for the first time, I usually do a “parallel sailing” with the guy I’m relieving so that I’m comfortable with the ship’s systems and more importantly, can respond to emergency situations effectively which happen far more often than you’d want to believe. In fact the Pride of Hull recently had a fire onboard and the crew were praised for saving the vessel. I’d hope the MCA would be all over this as every ship should receive a full Port State Control Inspection before being given permission to sail. 

Sorry about your friends (mates) and aye the idea of a total crew changeover for a large passenger vessel without work up or shadowing sounds like the start of a disaster film.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This has happened/been happening on deep sea trade for donkeys years. Remember speaking to an offshore Master Mariner last year saying he couldn’t get a job in the North Sea because of the amount of agency workers from Eastern Europe. 
 

Just need to look at cruise ships. I knew a cadet who, fresh from college, was put on a cruise ship with a “Senior 3rd Officer” title whereas the Filipino standing next to him on duty doing the same job with 10 years seafaring experience was just a “3rd officer”. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Dylan Easton Fanclub said:

This has happened/been happening on deep sea trade for donkeys years. Remember speaking to an offshore Master Mariner last year saying he couldn’t get a job in the North Sea because of the amount of agency workers from Eastern Europe. 
 

Just need to look at cruise ships. I knew a cadet who, fresh from college, was put on a cruise ship with a “Senior 3rd Officer” title whereas the Filipino standing next to him on duty doing the same job with 10 years seafaring experience was just a “3rd officer”. 

Aye, the day of the British Merchant Navy is dead but they’re still piling cadets through colleges to pick up their tonnage tax relief. Ironically ferries were seen as the last stable job for British seafarers. The issue is we’re now struggling to recruit for shoreside positions such as Harbour Master, Vessel Traffic Services, superintendents etc. Nautilus (biggest Union) has been highlighting this for years but you won’t be surprised to hear it’s fallen on deaf ears. I’ve been a Pilot, in a major UK port district, for 5 years now and I could count on one hand the number of British Captains I’ve worked with. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Watching a debate/discussion in "The House" going on just now  with all the usual petty waffling.

If only 2 Jags Prescott (MP, and one time prominent member of the Seaman's Union) was still around, someone would have had a black eye and a bloody nose by now. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, stumobir said:

Aye, the day of the British Merchant Navy is dead but they’re still piling cadets through colleges to pick up their tonnage tax relief. Ironically ferries were seen as the last stable job for British seafarers. The issue is we’re now struggling to recruit for shoreside positions such as Harbour Master, Vessel Traffic Services, superintendents etc. Nautilus (biggest Union) has been highlighting this for years but you won’t be surprised to hear it’s fallen on deaf ears. I’ve been a Pilot, in a major UK port district, for 5 years now and I could count on one hand the number of British Captains I’ve worked with. 

Wouldn’t mind a VTS gig if it was going right enough. Did my sea time but never got my CoC because I’m a dafty.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Michael W said:

A level of cuntiness that is difficult to surpass, although I'm sure someone will eventually. Not even "fire and rehire", just fired and immediately replaced with cheap agency labour. 

Did get a good chuckle at the Captain lifting the drawbridge on one of the ships so the heavies can't get onboard to chuck them all off. Good luck getting your boat back, you fuckers. 

From here, the only correct course of action is to hoist the Jolly Roger, get the chanties CD on over the tannoy, set sail for the Seven Seas and spend the rest of your lives as pirates going on quests for dubloons and wenches.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If it hasn't been previously mentioned, and I don't see that is the case, I think it's important to make the distinction between P&O Ferries and P&O Cruises - they are now separate entities with the ferry company being owned by Dubai Ports World and the cruise outfit being owned by the Carnival Corporation. I reckon the cruise company are going to suffer due to name association, which does carry positive historical connotation. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, N5 Spur said:

If it hasn't been previously mentioned, and I don't see that is the case, I think it's important to make the distinction between P&O Ferries and P&O Cruises - they are now separate entities with the ferry company being owned by Dubai Ports World and the cruise outfit being owned by the Carnival Corporation. I reckon the cruise company are going to suffer due to name association, which does carry positive historical connotation. 

^^^^

Works for p&o cruises as cheap labour type of post

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, doulikefish said:

^^^^

Works for p&o cruises as cheap labour type of post

The two largest P&O Cruises boats are UK registered so while still subject to cheap labour as per the industry, have a degree of UK HR rules and regulations backup. Not sure about their other boats which are Bermuda registered.  P&O Ferries have no UK registered vessels so are subject to the laws of whichever flag are registered with - Cyprus and Finland in the main, with a few other countries thrown in too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

29 minutes ago, WhiteRoseKillie said:
1 hour ago, Jacksgranda said:
"kapos"?

I'm hoping he meant to spell that with a "c", for the godfather vibe.

Hmmm, hadn't thought of that, although you'd think anyone with the slightest grasp of history and/or the Second World War would have known "kapos" isn't acceptable in this context.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...