P&O Ferries refuses plea from Grant Shapps to reverse decision to sack workers

By Neil Lancefield, PA

The boss of P&O Ferries has insisted he will not reverse the decision to sack nearly 800 seafarers despite being given “one further opportunity” by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

Chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite wrote to the Cabinet minister claiming his request “ignores the situation’s fundamental and factual realities”.

Re-employing the sacked workers on their previous wages would “deliberately cause the company to collapse, resulting in the irretrievable loss of an additional 2,200 jobs”, the letter stated.

“I cannot imagine that you would wish to compel an employer to bring about its own downfall, affecting not hundreds but thousands of families.”

When P&O Ferries announced its decision to replace its crews with cheaper agency workers, it stated that the business needed to cut costs to survive as it was losing £100 million a year.

The letter was in response to a letter from Mr Shapps which stated that P&O Ferries had “one further opportunity to reverse this decision by immediately offering all 800 workers their jobs back”.

Mr Hebblethwaite also rejected the request by the minister to delay the deadline of Thursday for sacked workers to accept redundancy offers, as more than 765 of the 786 affected people have “taken steps to accept the settlement offer”.

P&O Ferries the Pride of Kent (left) and the Pride of Canterbury (right) moored at the Port of Dover in Kent

He wrote: “These are legally binding agreements, and crew members who have entered them will rightly expect us to comply with their terms.”

The chief executive insisted he will continue in his role despite Mr Shapps describing his position as “untenable”.

Mr Hebblethwaite wrote: “I am fully cognisant of the reputational cost to the P&O Ferries brand and me personally.

“That notwithstanding, I am compelled to discharge my duties for this historical company, saving the jobs of the 2,200 dedicated employees who continue working for P&O Ferries and providing for the effective operation of the trade routes upon which this country depends.”

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency detained a second vessel belonging to P&O Ferries following a safety inspection.

Pride Of Kent is being held at the Port of Dover.

Another of the firm’s ships, European Causeway, remains under detention in Larne, Northern Ireland.

He added that he will not resign.

He wrote: “I am compelled to discharge my duties for this historical company, saving the jobs of the 2,200 dedicated employees who continue working for P&O Ferries and providing for the effective operation of the trade routes upon which this country depends.

“I will there continue to do my utmost to ensure that this company has a sustainable business for the future.”

Workers onboard the P&O Pride of Kent at the Port of Dover in Kent