What's happening with P&O ferries

[happy daze john in oz]

Under the circumstances taking the offered redundancy payment and getting out is by far the best way to go.

[j.sabourn]

That will depend on the amounts offered and the age of the seafarer. There is little liklihood of a seafarer who has spent 30 or more years there of getting re-employment at sea. JS

[Michael Black]

Been made redundant 3 times in my working life. 1st time was voluntary when I worked for National Power (old C.E.G.B.), in 91. The payout was quite substantial at the time. 2nd was 2012 from McNultys on the Tyne when they went bust and called in the receivers. I "lost" a fair bit of money on that one as only got the level of payout set by the government , which was well below what I would have got had I been assessed on what my proper rate was. The 3rd time was in 2015 when the company I worked for could not get any more work and was forced to close the yard. Got the proper rate off them. It was closed for a year before it opened again, I was the first rigger back in, but it was not the same company. So new contract, new conditions, less money. I only had a year before retirement so I took it as there was nothing local and I wasn't about to start travelling again. They had to up the pay after a few weeks so it wasn't too bad.
Everybody's circumstances are different and people will do what they think is best for them and their family.

Regards Michael

[happy daze john in oz]

Saw some TV footage Sunday of the situation in UK, may have been Dover.
Trucks lined up by the hundreds and it was said part of the problem was the fact the P&O ferry could not sail.

It certainly looked a bad lot and who knows how long it would take to rectify the problem

[John Arton]

If you look at the ITF minimum pay scales I posted previously, according to the P&O boss all the replacement crews were properly certified and paid the correct salary as per the ITF scales, however £5.5 per hour is not only less than the U.K minimum wage but well below those of the ITF rates.
For a guy who admitted to breaking employment law by not negotiating with unions beforehand what's telling another porkie about pay scales to him.
Rgds
J.A.

[James Curry]

I read somewhere that there is a £150 million hole in P&O ferries pension fund, what will DP world do about that?

[j.sabourn]

#96 Start looking for an ex P & O office boy living in a mansion in the South of France , with a motor yacht with a full fledged full time crew , and question his statement about winning the lotto ? JS

[happy daze john in oz]

Could well be that some form of enterprise agreement has ben reached with the new crew.
Very common here in Oz as it can be used to by pass the trade unions.

If the crew are happy to accept this then I fail to see what any body can do about it.
If overseas owned then I doubt UK authorities have nay say in the matter.

[James Curry]

It would appear the MCA is having plenty to say about it.

[j.sabourn]

As regards here in Australia John , between the years of 91 and 02, which was my official service out here, there would have been plenty done about it. For starters the maritime unions would have stepped in, the ships would have been blacklisted and any others that gave the accused credence, they too would have found themselves in the doo doo. Or any other people who thought themselves outside of the maritime sphere who thought otherwise , other unions would have backed the blacking, and the country would maybe have come to a stop. Such is the power of organised labour. Whether I believe in it or not is not the question , but I believe P & 0 would not have got away with it. To be employed in Australian Shipping in the years stated, everyone was a member of the Union otherwise you didn’t work. Again whether you believed in it or not is up to the individual. Myself I turned a blind eye to it as had only 11 years to go and the conditions which got purely by union demands, was very conducive to all hands , and certainly above British standards which compared, was absymnal in most cases. There is good and bad also in unions depending on which aspect you look at, but I am of the opinion that if the working man is not eloquent enough to demand a fair days pay , then he should have someone to represent him., JS