Saudi Arabia sends 54 new relief trucks to Syria through Jordanian border    Hans Zimmer delivers a spectacular musical night at Riyadh Season    Storm brings relief to California wildfires but raises flash flood concerns    Vice President JD Vance breaks tie to confirm Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense    No signs of severe winter as Saudi Arabia enters final third of the season    Saudi Arabia records over 22,500 residency, labor, and border violations    KSrelief concludes prosthetic limbs project for Ukrainian refugees in Poland    Hamas hands over four Israeli soldiers under Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal    Putin claims Ukraine crisis might not have occurred if Trump had been reelected    Saudi Arabia to host regular World Economic Forum global meeting starting 2026    Governor of NDF highlights development strategies at King Abdulaziz University panel    Bank of Japan raises rates to highest in 17 years    Injured Djokovic booed off after quitting semi-final    Trump shrugs off Elon Musk's criticism of AI announcement    Why do athletes earn such high incomes?    Al Ittihad defeats Al Shabab 2-1 to stay in title race with Al Hilal    Julian Quinones' brace secures Al Qadsiah's 2-0 win over Al Orobah    Tina Turner's lost Private Dancer song rediscovered    Comeback queens, blockbusters and Succession stars: The Oscar nominations previewed    Dangerous drug-resistant bacteria are spreading in Ukraine    Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan 'out of danger' after attack at home in Mumbai    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



P&O Ferries sacks 800 workers but crew refuse to leave ships
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 17 - 03 - 2022

British shipping company P&O Ferries has sacked 800 seafaring staff with immediate effect, but some crew are defying orders and refusing to leave their ships in protest.
Workers are understood to have been told the news on Zoom. The ferry firm said the "tough decision" was made to secure the future of the business.
Union RMT said crewmembers were being replaced with foreign labor.
P&O has said that its services will not operate for the "next few days", with passengers told to use other companies.
P&O said its survival was dependent on "making swift and significant changes now".
"In its current state, P&O Ferries is not a viable business. We have made a £100m loss year on year, which has been covered by our parent DP World. This is not sustainable. Without these changes there is no future for P&O Ferries."
Private security officers have been sent onto one ship docked at Larne Harbour in Northern Ireland, to remove staff on board, according to the RMT.
Gary Jackson, a fulltime officer onboard the Pride of Hull said crew were informed they had lost their jobs through a pre-recorded Zoom message at 11am and had not received anything in writing from the company.
"We've still not received any detail further on what they will offer. We can see from the ship two vans, one with agency staff and the other with what we believe are security staff to remove us...and that's why the captain here lifted the gangway".
East Hull Labour MP Karl Turner said "new foreign crew [are] waiting to board the Pride of Hull" while the current crew onboard have begun a "sit-in".
The union said it has instructed members to stay on board their vessels once they have docked or risk being "locked out" of their jobs.
"We are digging in for the long-haul. We are determined to fight," RMT spokesperson Geoff Martin said.
A seafaring P&O employee told the BBC his colleagues onboard have refused to disembark and are instead "in their cabins refusing to work".
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps tweeted that he was "concerned" about the news and would be speaking to the company today.
"Important to note other operators continue to run cross Channel routes, so passengers and goods can flow, but I am working with the Kent Resilience Forum to minimise disruption," he added.
P&O services scheduled for Monday include 14 between Dover and Calais, three between Liverpool and Dublin and seven between Larne in County Antrim and Cairnryan in Dumfries and Galloway.
The cross-Channel operator has said on Twitter that sailings between Dover and Calais scheduled for today will no longer run, and customers with tickets were instructed to sail with rival ferry company DFDS.
Earlier, DFDS director of capacity Chris Parker said his staff "were working to take some of the passengers in between Dover and Calais where we can, and we have the capacity to do so".
P&O is one of the UK's leading ferry companies, carrying more than 10 million passengers a year before the pandemic and about 15% of all freight cargo in and out of the UK.
However, like many transport operators it saw demand slump in the pandemic, forcing it to announce 1,110 job cuts. That came after it failed to secure a £150m bailout from the government.
In its statement on Thursday, P&O said: "In making this tough decision, we are securing the future viability of our business which employs an additional 2,200 people and supports billions in trade in and out of the UK.
"And we are ensuring that we can continue serving our customers in a way that they have demanded from us for many years."
A maritime executive has told the BBC that the entire ferry sector has been decimated by the Covid crisis.
They pointed to the fact that British and French seafarers are particularly expensive to employ compared to foreign staff.
Lauren Shaw and her husband told the BBC they were booked with P&O to travel on a ferry from Cairnryan to Larne at 16:00 this afternoon. "We had a phone call at 10am to tell us there would be no sailings today and that they hadn't been told a reason why," she said.
With no further information, the couple have started travelling to the port because they live four hours away - and are hoping for an update soon.
"They said that if we get to the port, they may be able to put us on Stena Line, but it's not guaranteed," Lauren added. "It's really frustrating." — BBC


Clic here to read the story from its source.