Employment rights bill must do more to stop ‘disposable labour’ in UK, say unions

The UK government’s employment rights bill has made “important strides” to stop another P&O Ferries scandal happening – but more must be done, according to trade unions.

The TUC, Nautilus and RMT unions said more measures to prevent “unscrupulous” employers such as P&O Ferries from treating staff like “disposable labour” were needed as they marked the three-year anniversary of the firing by P&O of UK workers.

More than 780 mainly British workers were sacked by P&O Ferries with no notice or consultation, and replaced with low-cost agency staff from countries including India, the Philippines and Malaysia. The scandal sparked outrage across Britain and political parties. The company later admitted that the lack of consultation before the sackings meant it broke UK employment law.

In November, the Guardian reported that the company spent £47m on the sackings. The scandal re-emerged the month before when the prime minister, Keir Starmer, rebuked his transport secretary, Louise Haigh, after she referred to the ferry company as a “rogue operator”. DP World, P&O’s Dubai-based owner, had reportedly threatened to pull out of a £1bn investment in the UK.

A Guardian and ITV News investigation revealed a year ago that the new staff were earning as little as £4.87 an hour, lower than stated by the company.

On Monday, the unions accused the Conservatives of doing next to nothing while in power. However, they said the Labour government’s employment rights bill, which passed its third reading in the House of Commons last week, would help to close legal loopholes exploited by P&O Ferries by beefing up collective dismissal laws, bolstering “fire and rehire” protections and strengthening seafarers’ working conditions.

The legislation will close a loophole exploited by the ferry operator by toughening the collective redundancy notification requirements for operators of foreign-flagged vessels. It means operators planning to dismiss 20 or more employees will be legally required to first notify the government.

The bill includes a measure that will address “fire and rehire” practices except where employers genuinely have no alternative and face insolvency. The government is also doubling the maximum protective award that can be given to employees by tribunals, to discourage employers who are trying to “price in” sackings.

Government amendments to the bill create the powers to set higher employment and welfare conditions for seafarers with regular UK port calls, on pay, hours of work and rest and wider conditions, the unions said.

The Seafarers’ Wages Act came into force last December, which requires most ferry operators to pay their seafarers with regular UK port calls at least the equivalent of the UK national minimum wage.

The unions are calling for powers for the government and unions to take immediate legal action to block employers from dismissing workers and rehiring them on less favourable contracts.

The TUC general secretary, Paul Nowak, said the bill “will make our labour laws fit for the 21st century and boost pay and conditions in the ferries sector for good”.

“But there’s still more to do. Ministers should ensure minimum standards for seafarers include key rights like sick pay and holiday pay, and they should lower the number of times a ship must visit UK ports to be liable to UK laws.”