"P&O Ferries is not a viable business. We made a loss of 100 million pounds over one year (nearly 120 million euros), covered by our parent company DP World", a port operator based in Dubai, justified the company in a statement sent to AFP.

"Our survival depends on rapid and significant change," insisted in its press release the company, which has suffered greatly from the pandemic and the annihilation of tourism and international travel.

The decision to lay off 800 sailors, out of a total of 3,000 employees, is "very difficult but necessary" and was taken "after seriously considering all the options", adds P&O, whose origins date back 180 years.

With its headquarters in Dover, England, it operates routes between France, Great Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands and claims 10 million passengers a year.

The "European Causeway" of the P&O Ferries company, owned by a Dubai port operator, at the port of Larne in Northern Ireland, March 17, 2022 PAUL FAITH AFP

Escorts and handcuffs

In Calais, the local management of P&O Ferries had announced earlier during an extraordinary social and economic committee (CSE) "the dismissal of 800 British sailors" who must be "replaced by Colombian sailors and temporary workers, to reduce by 50 % the payroll", according to a union source to AFP.

The local leaders "read a press release from the British management, we do not know more", added this source, stressing "that no employee is affected in France".

According to this source, in Dover, "security guards escorted" the staff from the company's facilities, and "100 Colombians and 40 temporary workers were escorted" to board the group's ferries stationed in the port. British.

But other sailors continued to occupy their ship in the port of Hull (north-east of England), assured Karl Turner, a British deputy for the constituency, on Twitter.

The RMT union, which has called on its members not to leave the ships, reports in a statement that "security guards equipped with handcuffs are boarding the ships" to dislodge the crews, particularly in Dover.

He calls for "mass mobilization", adding "urgent legal action".

"Contemptible"

The indignant reactions of unions or politicians rained Thursday afternoon on the social network, the former leader of the Labor Party, Jeremy Corbyn, thus denouncing "a despicable action" by P&O.

Mike Kane, Labor Party's Maritime Affairs Officer, meanwhile called the announcement "absolutely disgusting and insensitive behaviour".

Two ferries from P&O, which has just laid off 800 sailors to ensure its "survival", at the dock on March 17, 2022 in Liverpool, north west England Paul ELLIS AFP

According to the British transport workers' union TSSA, P&O Ferries is encouraging redundant staff to apply to temp agencies for the same jobs, denouncing a strategy "designed to reduce wages and diminish working conditions for their staff".

"In any civilized country, these actions would not only be illegal but severely reprehensible. Unfortunately, I doubt the Conservative government will lift a finger," said union general secretary Manuel Cortes.

The Unite union for its part called on P&O to abandon these "wild redundancies", adding that the announcement had "sent shock waves through the UK shipping industry".

"I am very concerned about the news coming out of P&O Ferries this morning and we will speak with the company today to understand the impact on workers and passengers," Transport Minister Grant Shapps responded on Twitter.

P&O announced on Thursday morning the suspension of its traffic pending "an announcement", and this service stoppage will continue "over the next few days", the company said on Twitter, inviting passengers to turn to other operators.

P&O Ferries, which is owned by DP World, one of the world's largest port operators based in Dubai, had already announced in May 2020 the layoff of around 1,100 people as part of a plan to make the company " viable and sustainable" in the face of the pandemic.

The company has therefore reduced its workforce by almost half in almost two years.

© 2022 AFP